Madrid Open: Naomi Osaka stumbles against Liudmila Samsonova, Coco Gauff sails through

Madrid: Liudmila Samsonova brought former world number one Naomi Osaka’s return to clay to a halt in the second round of the Madrid Open on Thursday with a 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 victory.

Elsewhere, American Coco Gauff sailed through to the third round with a 6-0, 6-0 thumping of Arantxa Rus.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka twice battled back from a break down in the second set to force a decisive third but world number 17 Samsonova eventually ground out the victory.

Japanese star Osaka returned to tennis in January after a long break and earned her first victory on clay for two years on Wednesday against Greet Minnen.

However Russian 15th seed Samsonova, whom Osaka beat at Indian Wells in March, was able to end a four-match losing streak with her victory in two hours 22 minutes in the Spanish capital.

Hard-court expert Osaka, 26, is not overly fond of the red dirt and has not won back-to-back matches on the surface since 2019.

She lost last week at the Rouen Open in France against Martina Trevisan in her first match back on clay but improved this week.

Samsonova raced into a 4-0 first set lead, breaking in the first and third games as Osaka struggled.

After recovering an early break Osaka was broken again in the fifth game and Samsonova took a 4-2 lead. However Osaka battled back and won the next four games to take the set.

In the decider the players exchanged breaks before Osaka eventually blinked in the 11th game, with Samsonova wrapping up victory on serve. She will face Madison Keys in the next round.

Gauff, 20, romped to a ‘double bagel’ triumph in only 51 minutes against her 33-year-old Dutch opponent Rus.

The American saved four break points in the match to become the third player ever to win 6-0, 6-0 in the Madrid Open main draw.

World number three Gauff will face Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska in the third round who beat Emiliana Arango 0-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Moreover, Sorana Cîrstea beat Alex Eala 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, 11th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Sara Errani 6-3, 6-2, 9th seed Jelena Ostapenko beat Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-3, 6-1, Emma Navarro beat Nadia Podoroska 6-2, 6-1, 5th seed Maria Sakkari beat DonnaVekic 6-3, 6-2, Victoria Azarenka beat Tatjana Maria 6-3, 6-1, Sara Sorribes Tormo beat Elina Svitolina 6-3, 7-5, Madison Keys beat Irina-Camelia Begu 7-6, 7-6, María Lourdes Carlé beat Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round.

In men’s section, Rafael Nadal began the campaign by defeating Darwin Blanch 6-1, 6-0.

In other first round matches, Flavio Cobolli beat Alejandro Tabilo 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, Pavel Kotov beat Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 6-4, Pedro Cachín beat Sebastian Ofner 6-3, 6-3, Tomas Machac beat Emil Ruusuvuori 6-4, 1-6, 6-2, Felix Auger Aliassime beat Yoshihito Nishioka 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, Max Purcell beat Marcos Giron 4-6, 6-4, 7-6, Lorenzo Sonego beat Richard Gasquet 6-2, 7-5, Thiago Monteiro beat Dušan Lajovic 6-4, 6-3, Matteo Arnaldi beat Christopher O'Connell 6-4, 6-1, Roberto Bautista Agut beat Daniel Elahi Galán 7-6, 4-6, 6-1, Jakub Menšík beat Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 7-6, Miomir Kecmanovic beat ZhangZhizhen 6-3, 6-2. Agencies

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