First-round action completed at the Miami Open on Wednesday and all eyes were on Serena Williams‘ match against fresh Indian Wells champion Naomi Osaka. Our Jimmie48 is bringing us photos from this match, in which Osaka defeated Williams 6-3 6-2 and out of respect for her opponent didn’t celebrate after winning the match point, rather, the 20-year-old Japanese approached the net in awe to shake hands with her idol.
As the WTA Insider pointed out on Twitter, Osaka has won her last eight matches, losing just one set, and the list of her victims includes: Maria Sharapova, Agnieszka Radwanska, Sachia Vickery, Maria Sakkari, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep, Daria Kasatkina and Serena Williams.
While mom Williams is still finding her form, mom Victoria Azarenka advanced to the second round with a 6-3 6-0 victory over Catherine Bellis. Our photographer covered this encounter and we even have close-ups of Vika’s colorful braided hairdo. Moreover, we have coverage of Bethanie Mattek Sands‘ first WTA match since last summer, as the American made a comeback from the injury sustained at Wimbledon 2017, losing to Alize Cornet, 6-2 7-5.
Jimmie48 attended many more first-round matches on Wednesday, so we have photos of Camila Giorgi, Andrea Petkovic, Marketa Vondrousova, Donna Vekic, Aryna Sabalenka, and others. There are also pics from world No.1 Simona Halep‘s practice session and her morning visit to the Baptist Children’s Hospital. Enjoy!
MORE MIAMI OPEN 2018 PHOTOS:
Proud of Naomi, even if Serena’s still adjusting. I still feel terrified whenever I remember all the complications from Olympia’s birth, lots of kudos to her playing right now.
Yep, but now Naomi’s out, and so suddenly. None of these ladies have the consistency that Serena Williams has displayed over the years…I mean none of them. It’s really kind of sad, considering she’s way older than them. It was, nonetheless, my desire to see these two paired up against one another. It’s obvious Naomi is patterning her style in more ways than one after Serena, The GOAT. And don’t forget, Serena won her first major at the young age of 17. And, let’s don’t forget Venus is still hanging in the top 10 at 37 years of age. Simply amazing, these two!Why is it that the usual “fanboy” commentators refer to Roger Fed as a legend and not the Williams sisters? Very interesting, indeed. Naomi’s 20 yrs. old, so she’d better get it together fast.
TheRealDeal, I always refer to Serena & Venus as tennis legends, they definitely are, active legends.