MELBOURNE (Australia): Naomi Osaka moved into the last 16 of Australian Open on Friday, but the Japanese star wasn’t happy with her performance.
The third seed, champion in Melbourne two years ago, won 6-3, 6-2 victory over Tunisian 27th seed Ons Jabeur in 1hr 18min.
Osaka will meet last year’s runner-up Garbine Muguruza in the next round.
“I felt like I wasn’t playing that well, like my unforced error rate was probably really high today,” said Osaka. “But I’m really happy with how I fought.”
Osaka, who has dropped just 13 games in her opening three matches, said playing against Jabeur was “really fun”.
“For me I feel like Ons is a very different player, but that’s just judging from the matches I’ve watched of Muguruza,” she said. “I think Ons is definitely more of a free spirit, and I think for me Muguruza might be a bit more like my taste. Like she’s not as unpredictable as Ons is.”
Osaka will face an entirely different style of play when she will meet two-time Grand Slam winner Muguruza,, who beat Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas 6-1, 6-1.
