Naomi OSAKA wins back-to-back matches for the first time in 23 months, continues to find form with Martic win at Qatar Open

Naomi Osaka continues to find form and has won her first back-to-back matches in 23 months since the Miami Open final in 2022 reaching the Last 16 of the Qatar Open after taking down Petra Martic 6-3, 7-6 and saving set points to take it the distance.

After struggling over the last few weeks, Osaka has been finding form so far after defeating Caroline Garcia and vanquishing some demons after taking down the Frenchwoman. This came after she lost to her at the Australian Open and after previously losing multiple matches in a row, she has found her stride.

Also in facing Martic, she wasn't on the main showcourts which was a surprise and perhaps gave the former World No.1 and multiple Grand Slam champion freedom to play her top tennis. She cruised in the opening set barely challenged by her opponent. She didn't face any break points on her own serve and broke her opponent once to take the opening set.

Martic finally started to find the game to disrupt Osaka in the second set. Osaka struggled on her serve this time and got broken by Martic. But she was still much better. Breaks were exchanged multiple times before it finally got pushed into a tie-break. She was 6-3, 5-3 up, but then had to come back from 0-4 and 3-6 in the tie-break saving four set points. The resolve of a champion to find the answers. She also has a great chance from here with Lesia Tsurenko instead of Ons Jabeur next and Karolina Pliskova or Linda Noskova in the Quarter-Finals.