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Naomi Osaka at Australian Open

VIDEO: Naomi Osaka breaks the net in impressive Australian Open first-round win


Naomi Osaka made a ‘nervy’ start to her Australian Open defence, but you would not know it watching her.

The Japanese star was in total control against rising Czech star Marie Bouzkova, eventually easing to a 6-2, 6-4 win in 80 minutes.

“It was really tough for me trying to control my nerves,” Osaka said after the match. “I was really glad to finish it in two.”

“For me, I’ve never played her before, so it’s tough to play someone you’ve never played in the first round of a Grand Slam.

“I just know that she’s going to become a great player and we’re going to play a lot of really hard matches.

“I hope I’m still standing here at the end of this week.”

Naomi Osaka will face Zheng Saisai next after she overcame Russian qualifier Anna Kalinskaya 6-3, 6-2.

Petra Martic, the 13th seed, is also through after bagelling Christina McHale en-route to a 6-3, 6-0 win.

She will face unseeded Julia Goerges, who had too much for Viktoria Kuzmova.

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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.