Naomi Osaka leads the WTA in key service statistic this season

Former World No.1 Naomi Osaka has endured another difficult year, but some of her stats are much better than you might think.

As all tennis fans know, one of the keys to success in the sport is the ability to hold serve and Osaka has seemingly become a master of it. The four-time major winner has always been renowned as a big server and once clocked a 125mph first serve – the joint seventh quickest of all time.

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Having sustained an ankle injury during the clay season, Osaka’s return to the top of women’s tennis has not gone as planned. Yet, she remains the toughest player to break on the WTA Tour.

As per stats by WTA Insider, the Japanese superstar has won 80.4% of her service games so far in 2022 –– two per cent more than her nearest challenger. It’s no surprise to see Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in second place. The Kazakh star stormed to victory at the All England Club earlier this month and has held serve 78.4% of the time this year. In third place is Liudmila Samsonova, while Madison Keys and Olympic champion Belinda Bencic round out the top five. 

Following her ankle injury at the Madrid Open, Osaka subsequently withdrew from the Italian Open. Though she returned at Roland-Garros, she was defeated in the opening round by Anisimova. 

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The 24-year-old then chose to miss Wimbledon –– citing the lack of ranking points on offer as one of her reasons. With the hard court swing now approaching, she is expected to return in time to challenge at the US Open. 

Osaka has won at Flushing Meadows on two occasions and may fancy her chances of turning her fortunes around in New York this September.