Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka set for mouth-watering Miami clash

WTA Tour

What was Naomi Osaka’s reward for winning the Indian Wells Masters? A Miami Open match-up against Serena Williams.

The 20-year-old Osaka claimed her first WTA title with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Daria Kasatkina on Sunday.

She rose to a career-high No 22 in the world rankings on the back of her BNP Paribas Open run, but it wasn’t enough to avoid a first-round encounter against 23-time Grand Slam winner Williams.

Eight-time Miami champion Williams, who made her singles comeback at Indian Wells a fortnight ago following a year out of the game, received a wildcard entry into the event.

Having lost in the third round against her sister Venus, Serena will be looking to go further in this tournament, but she will have her work cut out as Osaka dispatched Maria Sharapova, Karolina Pliskova and world No 1 Simona Halep en route to winning the BNP Paribas Open.

And it won’t get any easier for the winner in the second round as fourth seed Elina Svitolina awaits.

Halep is once again the top seed with Caroline Wozniacki ranked second and Garbine Muguruza seeded third.

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