Naomi Osaka survives scare by Maria Sakkari
World No. 1 Naomi Osaka survived a fightback from Greece's Maria Sakkari before winning her opening match of the Birmingham Classic last night.
The Japanese triumphed 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 to progress to the second round, where she will meet Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva.
Third seed Karolina Pliskova also reached the second round after defeating Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-3, 6-4. But Ukraine's Elina Svitolina lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to Russia's Margarita Gasparya, after committing five double-faults and 15 unforced errors in the first set alone.
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