Naomi Osaka, back in action for the first time in two months, was eliminated in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open on Wednesday in Indian Wells, Calif.
Colombia’s Camila Osorio beat the four-time Grand Slam champion 6-4, 6-4 in 1 hour, 31 minutes.
Osaka last was in action at the Australian Open, where she retired from her third-round match due to an abdominal strain.
Osorio said of defeating Osaka, the 2018 Indian Wells champion, “It’s crazy for me. It’s a dream come true. I really wanted to play on this court. I was really excited and looking forward to playing a champion like Naomi, so I can’t believe I won.”
Next up for Osorio is a second-round match against 22nd-seeded Clara Tauson of Denmark. The tournament’s 32 seeds all received first-round byes.
Belarus’ Victoria Azarenka, the BNP Paribas Open champion in 2012 and 2016, topped 18-year-old U.S. qualifier Clervie Ngounoue 6-4, 7-6 (7). Azarenka is also a two-time Grand Slam winner.
Also advancing were France’s Caroline Garcia and Varvara Gracheva, New Zealand’s Lulu Sun, Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto, Romania’s Irina-Camelia Begu, the Netherlands’ Suzan Lamens, Poland’s Magda Linette, China’s Xinyu Wang, the Czech Republic’s Katerina Siniakova, Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska and the United States’ Hailey Baptiste, Carolina Dolehide, Robin Montgomery and Ashlyn Krueger.
–Field Level Media
