Jasmine Paolini dug deep to earn a comeback win over Naomi Osaka and reach the Miami Open quarter-finals on Monday.

The Italian has struggled in the third round of tournaments in 2025, but she showed her resilience to turn the tide and earn a 3-6 6-4 6-4 triumph in two hours and 15 minutes.

Osaka started on the front foot, forcing five break points in the opening game without success, but she eventually gained the edge.

After trading breaks, Osaka finished the opener with a three-game winning run, converting her second set point to take the lead.

However, Paolini fought back from the off in the second set, going a break up in the first game and keeping her edge as she held off Osaka’s advances and served to love to force a decider.

Osaka looked strong on serve, not giving up a point in her first two service matches in the third set, but Paolini forced the turnover in the next before fighting off two break points in the following game.

With the chance to serve for the match, Paolini held off Osaka’s late pushback attempts to set up a meeting with either Coco Gauff or Magda Linette in the last eight.

"I think just maybe experience [was a factor]," Osaka said afterwards. "I don't think that I can say that I've played a lot of matches against top players like this in a while.

"The way she plays catches me off guard, simply because of her height. I didn't know she could hit like that."

Data Debrief: The finest of margins

This match was almost too close to call, with both players showing off their absolute best in a bid to reach the last eight.

Paolini hit 28 winners and made 39 unforced errors, while Osaka's numbers were 29 and 41. Interestingly, the latter actually won more points, with 101 to 97, though she was unable to make that advantage tell.

Paolini, who has equalled the best result by an Italian at the WTA Miami Open by reaching the quarter-finals, had to dig deep, saving 12 of the 15 break points that she faced (80%), with converting three of five the other way.