Tension at the end: Naomi Osaka receives a frosty embrace from Sorana Cirstea after former Australian Open champion advances

There was a tense exchange at the end of Naomi Osaka's second round victory at the Australian Open over Sorana Cirstea in a 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 triumph marred in discussion and controversy.

The flamboyant outfit Osaka walked onto the court in her opening round match was not utilised this time around, but the veil and hat were worn by many fans in the crowd with memory of her memorable fashion choices still fresh in the mind for many.

After finding herself trailing in the early stages she fired back with a wave of quality tennis to win the first set before keeping a resilient Cirstea at ba. This was until her opponent forced a fightback in the second set, but the power hitting of Osaka prevailed in the end.

When the two players embraced at the net, it was a very frosty handshake between the pair, with Cirstea giving Osaka a stern look joint with a form handshake as she walked towards the umpire's chair. The discussion continued at the net, with the Romanian annoyed with the "Come On's" Osaka echoed between first and second serves.

It was their first meeting since Wimbledon qualifying 11 years ago, showing how far both players have come. It would be the Romanian who found herself slightly ahead in the early stages. She nicked a break enroute to a 2-0 lead. It would soon turn into the Osaka show as she got her first game on the board before levelling the contest with a break of her own.

A hold to love was responded well by Cirstea, but after missing a break point of her own Osaka was there to punish her with a break to love. This put Osaka 5-3 ahead and firmly in the driving seat for the first set. Once again, she came into an obstacle with Cirstea having the chance to draw affairs level. However, Osaka did brilliant to nullify the threat and two points later was walking back to her chair with a set advantage.

Cirstea was providing a worthy competitor to the former world number one. She repeated the action of the first set, in which she took a 2-0 lead. The break, which came in the second game, was deemed worthless moments later when Osaka collected four points on the spin to level up.

The immense power that the Japanese tennis player got out of her shots troubled Cirstea for much of the match, but she was also creating some very big shots herself, despite not being widely regarded as a power player.

The two-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist was very much under the cosh at 3-3 while serving, falling 15-40 behind as Osaka looked to put the final nail in the coffin. She was not to be downed so easily, fighting back and eventually going 5-4 ahead in the set. It was not a good time for the error count to shoot up for Osaka, with Cirstea capitalising as she took the second set.

Osaka responded positively as she broke instantly. It looked like the momentum would swing back towards Cirstea with her failing to take two break points to get the match back on serve. She was resultingly punished for this, with Osaka grabbing another break enroute to getting the job done.

All eyes will be on the players press conferences as the debrief on the stern meeting at the net will be discussed long into the Melbourne night. As for Osaka, she is rewarded with a third round tie against qualifier Maddison Inglis, with Iga Swiatek a possible matchup in the fourth round.