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Naomi Osaka beat France’s Clara Burel in straight sets in the Italian Open first round on her first appearance at the tournament since 2021. <\/b><\/p>\n
Former world number one Osaka won 7-6 (7-2) 6-1 against Burel, who is ranked 45th in the world. <\/p>\n
It was Osaka’s first win against a top-50 opponent on clay since beating Victoria Azarenka at the French Open in 2019.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old, who gave birth to her first daughter last year, will face 19th seed Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine in the second round on Thursday. <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Britain’s Dan Evans will have to wait to take on Italy’s Fabio Fognini in the men’s competition after his first-round tie on Wednesday was cancelled due to inclement weather in Rome. <\/p>\n
Japan’s Osaka, now ranked at 173 in the world, finished the 84-minute match with 27 winners, including eight aces. <\/p>\n
“I obviously played a lot better in the second set,” she said. <\/p>\n
“I’m hoping that when I play my match tomorrow, I’m able to learn from the mistakes that I did today and apply them better.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n