WTA Abu Dhabi: Retirement-bound Collins beats Osaka to reach second round

Danielle Collins and Naomi Osaka are in quite different trajectories in their career. The American has announced that she will retire at some point this season – she does not know exactly when – while the Japanese player has just embarked upon her comeback to the sport after 15 months away.

The two faced off in the first round of the WTA Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, only the third tournament of Osaka’s comeback, and it was Collins who came out the winner 7-5, 6-0 in one hour and 23 minutes.

Collins, a former Australian Open runner-up who is now ranked No 71, will face top seed Elena Rybakina next. For Osaka, this was her third loss in a row on the tour, taking her record since her comeback to 1-3.

Abu Dhabi WTA 500, other first-round matches (International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City, hard, USD 922.573):

• Cristina Bucsa (LL) beat Xinyu Wang: 5-7, 6-0, 6-3
• Magda Linette beat Alexandra Eala (WC): 7-6 (4), 6-1
• Sara Sorribes Tormo (LL) beat Linda Noskova (Q): 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
• Emma Raducanu (WC) beat Marie Bouzkova: 6-4, 6-1
• Daria Kasatkina (7) beat Diane Parry (Q): 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
• Beatriz Haddad Maia (6) beat Xiyu Wang (WC): 6-2, 7-6 (4)
• Ashlyn Krueger (Q) beat Bernarda Pera (Q): 6-2, 5-7, 6-3
• Sorana Cirstea beat Caroline Garcia: 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4
• Anhelina Kalinina vs. Lucia Bronzetti
• Lesia Tsurenko vs. Liudmila Samsonova
• Heather Watson vs. Veronika Kudermetova

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