Naomi Osaka scores tricky win over Bernarda Pera in Citi Open debut

Osaka sat down with Justin Gimelstob at the Tennis Channel desk:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — On a humid and heavy Tuesday at the Citi Open, Naomi Osaka made her debut with relatively straightforward success. The No. 3 seed moved past Bernarda Pera, 6-2, 7-6 (2).

"I think Washington is really cool," Osaka said. "Just driving around there's a lot of nature, but also it feels like everyone is really relaxed. I think it's a cool place to be, the Citi Open too."

Pera, if you recall, is the American-Croatian 23-year-old who reached the third round of the Australian Open this year as a lucky loser. In Washington, she had her hands full with the big-hitting Japanese 20-year-old right from the start.

What Osaka does so well is steal time away from her opponent, and she does it with power not by taking the ball especially early. She and Pera were on John A. Harris Grandstand, an intimate environment to witness Osaka’s power perfectly from up close.

Osaka even moves quickly between points, admitting the shot clock that the Citi Open is testing out didn't affect her. "I generally play pretty fast anyway," she said.

Pera was surely feeling the persistent pressure on the baseline, as Osaka forced her to buy into her power baseline game and go for bigger and bigger shots, which would cost the world No. 95.

The first set went quickly Osaka’s way, but things got trickier at the start of the second. With Pera up 3-2, rain began to fall—a very common occurrence in the U.S. capital during this event each summer. Even a 20 percent forecast of rain is a guaranteed delay at some stage in the day, and the matches don’t start until later in the afternoon, meaning night matches can creep well past midnight.

After the 30 minute delay, Pera leapt to a 4-2 lead but Osaka quickly settled back in, clearly not in the mood for a third set.

"Well, the third set crossed my mind pretty early actually. Maybe at 2-1, when I was up," Osaka said. "Because I saw the dark clouds and I was like please, please, please, I don't want to play a third set. But I was able to finish it so there's that."

While she was prone to letting fly some huge unforced errors, the world No. 17 was exceptionally good at one critical factor: She did the best things on the most important points. It’s a trait that the greatest champions have, and helps them gain leads at the most nerve-wracking moments and also helps them figure out how to win even on their worst days.

"I have more concentration when it gets to the more crucial points," she said.

Osaka's match point over Bernarda Pera:

It also helps that Osaka, who was born in Japan but grew up in Florida, is in love with hard courts.

"I just think because I’m so used to hard courts—I grew up on on hard courts and I’ve played almost my whole life on hard courts—I’m just more comfortable on it," the Indian Wells champion said. "I love hard court. Red clay, no thank you, grass is OK I guess. I heart hard court."

Osaka is still so young so her lapses between her superior step-ups can cost her. For example, she dropped her serve at 5-5, making her life immensely more complicated. But then she turned around and promptly forced a tiebreaker, speeding to a 4-1 lead.

Things got dicey once more as Pera inched her way back. But at 4-3, Osaka nailed down her eighth ace of the match. She then stepped up at 5-4 with a down-the-line backhand that sizzled past Pera at a lightning speed of 83 mph. Pera was out of ideas, letting fly a loose error to give Osaka a spot in the second round.

"I feel like people enter a tournament to win so in mind, of course, I know that there's a chance that I can win this tournament," Osaka said. "But I'm not really thinking too much about it I'm just thinking about how I can get through my next match."

ATP & WTA Washington D.C.

Catch all the action from the Citi Open with live coverage from three courts on Tennis Channel Plus beginning Monday, July 30th at 2:00 PM ET. All matches also available on-demand.