Naomi Osaka bounced back from her defeat at Indian Wells by claiming a hard-fought victory over Yuliia Starodubtseva in Miami.

Naomi Osaka is determined to play against the WTA Tour's biggest names after she battled into the second round of the Miami Open.

Osaka came from a set down to beat Yuliia Starodubtseva 3-6 6-4 6-3 on Tuesday.

The four-time grand slam champion appeared to be picking up form earlier in the season, with a run to the final of the Auckland Open.

But she retired hurt from the showpiece match against Clara Tauson, and then had to withdraw from her third-round clash with Belinda Bencic at the Australian Open.

A shock 6-4 6-4 loss to Camila Osorio in the first round at the Indian Wells Open earlier this month marked a poor return to action for Osaka, who labelled that performance as her worst ever.

Osaka found herself 5-0 down in the first set against Starodubtseva but rallied to claim a confidence-boosting victory, and her focus is on getting back to competing against the sport's biggest players.

"I want to play with the big dogs so bad and I just see everyone playing so well and I want to do the same," said the former world number one.

"I have to remember it's a process.

"I knew that I wasn't playing too well, but I thought, 'let me try to stay on the court as long as possible', because I consider Miami my home.

"At Indian Wells I was just over-hitting a lot, so I tried to use my legs.

"I was going to run into every corner if I had to, and we were going to have to play for three hours if she was going to beat me."

Osaka reached the Miami Open final in 2022, losing to Iga Swiatek.

The 27-year-old will take on Liudmila Samsonova in the second round.