Naomi Osaka's comeback takes another knock as Danielle Collins eases past former World No.1 at Abu Dhabi Open

Danielle Collins as ever is the spoiler and in Naomi Osaka's continued comeback, she will not face Elena Rybakina in the second round as she was defeated 7-5, 6-0 on Tuesday morning by the American ace at the Abu Dhabi Open.

Collins is retiring this year, but this came as a shock at the time with the American still playing well. Osaka had a glaring issue with movement during the defeat as she looks to find her feet again after becoming a mother for the first time last year. The serve in particular looked good during the clash, but if the movement isn't there, there is only so much that can be done.

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Both players in the opening set succeeded on the second serve and it was very much back and forth with Collins edging it in the last two games to seal it 7-5. The second set is where it fell apart for Osaka as she failed to find a retort and fell down 3-0. She looked to potentially break back but couldn't close it out and Collins held for a 4-0 lead from there. This proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the chances of Osaka who couldn't hit back from there on out as Collins bagelled her 6-0 to complete the win.

A tough draw on paper and a bit of a nightmare compared to the other qualifiers, she has also faced Karolina Pliskova and Caroline Garcia in her comeback and with getting wildcards, the easy opponents aren't there for Osaka. Emma Raducanu was the opposite example in Abu Dhabi as she showed that unlike the other returnees so far a great level is already very much there.

For Osaka, it is simply doubles now alongside Ons Jabeur who will face the Brit next and then onto the next phase of her comeback in the Middle East.

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Stepping 🆙 Danielle Collins ousts Osaka 7-5, 6-0 in Abu Dhabi and next faces top seed Rybakina! #MubadalaAbuDhabiOpen

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