Naomi Osaka advances at Qatar Open after 1st back-to-back victories in 23 months

What happened: Osaka bested Martic in a two-set match in the Grandstand 1 court at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open in Doha on Tuesday evening with a final score of 6-3, 7-6(9). The second set of the match went to a tie-break, in which Osaka closed with an 11-9 score.

The match was the second time the two players faced each other on the court, with the first one being at the final qualifications round of the 2014 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford in the United States, where the Japanese star, who was only 16 at the time, emerged victorious.

Back-to-back wins: Osaka’s win against Martic marked her first back-to-back victories in 23 months. She opened the tournament with another two-set win against French No.15 seed Caroline Garcia 7-5, 6-4, the same player who knocked her out of the Australian Open in early January.

What’s next: Osaka will face Ukrainian player Lesia Tsurenko in Center Court on Wednesday. Tsurenko beat Tunisian player Ons Jabeur earlier Tuesday night with a final score of 6-3, 6-2.