Osaka ends long wait for comeback win against Putintseva in China

Naomi Osaka rallied to beat Yulia Putintseva in the second round of the China Open on Friday, ending a wait of over two years for a comeback victory.

Osaka came from a set down to win 3-6 6-4 6-2 and tee up a third-round meeting with Katie Volynets, extending her winning streak at the Beijing event to eight matches.

She had failed to win any of her previous 22 matches when going a set down, a streak she was mightily relieved to snap.

"I heard that stat from my agent," Osaka told reporters after her win.

"I wanted to break it really badly because I knew that I also had a stat about three-setters before I took my break, so that was really important to me.

"I also wanted to show myself that I could win a match and fight without playing as perfectly as I wanted to."

22 - Naomi Osaka has now broken a 22-match losing streak at WTA level after losing the first set – including Olympics and team events – with her last win from a set down coming against Belinda Bencic in Miami (SF) in 2022. Determined.#ChinaOpen | @ChinaOpen @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/04Ty916qRk
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) September 27, 2024

Data Debrief: Back-to-back for Osaka

This is the first time Osaka has won back-to-back matches since June at 's-Hertogenbosch, where she reached the quarter-finals before falling to Bianca Andreescu.

The last time she won from a set down, meanwhile, was in the Miami Open semi-finals in 2022, when she beat Belinda Bencic before losing to Iga Swiatek in the final.