Naomi Osaka knocked out of BNP Paribas Open in third round
Naomi Osaka's return to the BNP Paribas Open came to an end in the third round Monday as she was eliminated by Elise Mertens, the No. 24 seed from Belgium 7-5, 6-4.
Osaka, who gave birth to her daughter Shai in July, returned to competitive tennis in January and made a splash at Indian Wells winning a pair of matches including a victory over the No. 14 seed Liudmila Samsonova, the highest-ranked opponent she has beaten since her return.
But on Monday, it was veteran doubles player Mertens who shook off some shaky serving to secure the straight-set win. Osaka said she didn't execute the game plan she wanted to coming into the match, and that Mertens surprised her in some ways, too.
"I definitely wanted to be the aggressive one. I felt like in some ways I was kind of on defense a lot, and I wasn't able to hit the ball as like heavy as I usually feel like I should," Osaka said. "And then in the ways that she surprised me, I think her service speed probably went up since I last played her. She kind of forced me into the backhand a lot, I felt."
Mertens advances to the fourth round for the first time in seven tries in Indian Wells as a singles player, but she's had plenty of success at the BNP Paribas Open in doubles. Mertens, who has four Grand Slam titles as a doubles player, also has two titles in Indian Wells.
She teamed with Hsieh Se-Wei to win the title here in 2021 and partnered with Aryna Sabalenka to win the doubles title in Indian Wells in 2019.
On Monday, Mertens and Osaka played a see-saw first set. Mertens led 3-0, then Osaka won four straight games, including a break of serve in which Mertens had three double-faults in a row. Rattled, she was able to regroup, tie the match at 4-4 and then regain control for a 7-5 win. The second set was also tight as Osaka fended off a pair of match points, but the third one was a charm for Mertens, who let out a roar after her victory on Stadium 1.
Next up for Mertens will be a tough test against No. 3 seed Coco Gauff. She is 0-3 against the talented American teen. In fact, she was one of the players Gauff beat during her breakthrough U.S. Open run.
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: BNP Paribas Open: Naomi Osaka's return ends with third-round defeat
