Naomi Osaka was encouraged by her 2022 clay-court debut, winning her opening match at the Madrid Open against Anastasia Potapova.

The former world number one has not played on the red dirt since the 2021 French Open, where she withdrew citing mental health issues.

Heading into this week in Madrid, Osaka had an underwhelming 20-15 record on clay, with each of her grand slam successes coming on hard courts.

But the 24-year-old has spoken of adjusting her approach and learning from clay king Rafael Nadal – and the early signs were positive.

She needed just over an hour to defeat Potapova 6-3 6-1 on Friday and said: "I'm honestly trying to be more positive with myself.

"This year I came a week early to train on red clay, so I'm just trying to give myself more chances to do better.

Osaka added: "To be able to do it in two sets, for me, it's a really good starting block. 

"I think today for me it was really fun, just being able to be back on the clay and not taking those moments for granted."

Fellow hard-court major champions Emma Raducanu and Bianca Andreescu also won their openers, although the latter required three sets to eventually coast past Alison Riske 6-4 3-6 6-0.

Raducanu will play another 19-year-old in the second round, with the US Open champion paired with Marta Kostyuk after getting over a slightly slow start to thrash Tereza Martincova 7-6 (7-3) 6-0.

Fourth seed Maria Sakkari overcame a scare, meanwhile, ending her losing run at three matches by coming from behind to defeat Madison Keys in three sets.

"Overall, it was a very positive match to get myself back in the winning feeling," the Greek said.

Emma Raducanu hailed Torben Beltz as "one of the nicest people I've met", despite deciding to split from the German coach.

The US Open champion parted company with Beltz on Tuesday after just five months together.

The duo began working together in November but have now split as the world number 11 plots the way forward ahead of the French Open and Wimbledon.

"Torben is a great guy. I really enjoyed my time with him on and off the court," Raducanu said while preparing for the Madrid Open on Wednesday. 

"He is one of the nicest people I've met, so obviously it was a tough one to split with someone like that.

"But I feel like right now I'm very comfortable with my current training. I'm feeling very confident in what I'm doing and how I'm working.

"I feel like over the last few weeks it's definitely become more apparent and especially as I've spent more time on the tour playing more matches against these top opponents, that I kind of understand what I feel like I need more of.

"I think Torben has been great for me because when I wanted someone with tour experience, I think for my first six months on the tour, it was very valuable."

The 19-year-old has recently enjoyed her best week of the season, winning back-to-back matches at the Stuttgart Open, before putting in a respectable performance in defeat to world number one Iga Swiatek.

Beltz is the third coach to move on from working with Raducanu in the last 12 months. She swapped Nigel Sears for Andrew Richardson, who worked with her at the US Open, before deciding to bring in Beltz, who previously worked with Angelique Kerber and Donna Vekic.

Raducanu is scheduled to face Czech player Tereza Martincova on Friday in Madrid and will be assisted by Iain Bates at the tournament, the long-serving head of women's tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association.

Emma Raducanu has parted company with another coach as the US Open champion seeks the right combination to keep her at the top of the game.

The world number 11, who was a shock winner at Flushing Meadows last September, announced on Tuesday she and Torben Beltz would no longer be working together.

German coach Beltz came on board in November but departs as Raducanu plots the way forward ahead of the French Open and Wimbledon.  The 19-year-old Raducanu says she needs "a new training model".

Beltz becomes the third coach to move on from working with Raducanu in the last 12 months. She swapped Nigel Sears for Andrew Richardson, who was in her corner at the US Open, before electing to bring on board the experienced Beltz, who previously worked with Angelique Kerber and Donna Vekic.

Raducanu said of her decision: "I want to thank Torben for his dedication. He has a huge heart and I have enjoyed our strong chemistry during the time together."

She is preparing to play at the Madrid Open and will be assisted there by Iain Bates, the long-serving head of women's tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA).

Raducanu has yet to indicate what direction she will go in regarding her next full-time hire, although working with the teenager is likely to remain an attractive prospect for leading coaches.

She said: "The best direction for my development is to transition to a new training model with the LTA supporting in the interim."

Although Raducanu has continued to climb the WTA rankings, she has managed just five wins from 12 matches on tour this year, losing a close contest to world number one Iga Swiatek in the Stuttgart quarter-finals last week.

Iga Swiatek believes a hard-won victory over Emma Raducanu on Friday will steel her for challenges ahead after reaching the Stuttgart Open semi-finals.

World number one Swiatek landed a 21st consecutive victory as she edged out US Open winner Raducanu 6-4 6-4 in an hour and 45 minutes on the German clay.

There was plenty to admire from both players, but in the end it was another straight-sets success for Swiatek, who dropped only two games in her previous round against German Eva Lys.

It makes the 20-year-old Pole the first woman to win 28 consecutive sets on tour since Serena Williams, who did so from the 2012 US Open to the 2013 Australian Open.

Swiatek broke early in the first set to take charge, and with 19-year-old Raducanu battling a back problem the rankings leader soon got ahead in the second too.

This was Raducanu's first-ever match against a player ranked inside the WTA top 10, a peculiar statistic given she is already a grand slam champion.

Swiatek, like her opponent, knows how it feels to win a grand slam as a teenage surprise package, having triumphed as a 19-year-old at the 2020 French Open when ranked only 54th in the world.

At 4-3 in the second set of this contest, Swiatek saved two break points with clinical forehand winners out of the reach of Raducanu, shouting out in satisfaction moments later as she held serve to move a game away.

Raducanu had two more break chances in Swiatek's next service game but again could not convert as her opponent sealed victory.

Swiatek said: "I'm pretty happy that today's match was longer. Not for now, but for the future it's going to give me a lot of experience.

"Right now I want to play really aggressively, and I think this game style is going to fit the surface, and it fit the hardcourts as well."

She will face unseeded Liudmila Samsonova next after the Russian, playing as a neutral, beat Laura Siegemund 7-5 6-3.

The other semi-final in Stuttgart will see second seed Paula Badosa take on third seed Aryna Sabalenka.

Badosa was a 7-6 (11-9) 1-6 6-3 winner against Ons Jabeur, while Sabalenka fended off Anett Kontaveit 6-4 3-6 6-1.

At the Istanbul Cup, Friday saw quarter-final wins for Veronika Kudermetova and Anastasia Potapova, along with Sorana Cirstea and Yulia Putintseva.

Those results set up a semi-final on Saturday between second seed Cirstea and third seed Kudermetova, with Putintseva and Potapova also facing off.

Emma Raducanu will take on Iga Swiatek in an intriguing quarter-final at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix but Maria Sakkari and Karolina Pliskova were eliminated. 

US Open champion Raducanu overcame Tamara Korpatsch 6-0 2-6 6-1 to set up a meeting with world number one Swiatek. 

It will be the pair's first meeting on the WTA Tour and Raducanu's maiden encounter with a top-10 opponent. 

The Briton, who is playing her first Tour-level clay-court event, won 90 per cent of points on her first serve in the opening set but that slipped to 56 per cent as she opened the door to a comeback in the second. 

However, Raducanu rediscovered her composure in the decider and got over the line after an hour and 39 minutes.

Fourth seed Sakkari retired while 6-4 3-1 down to home hope Laura Siegemund, who will take on Liudmila Samsonova after she bested Pliskova 6-4 6-4. 

Paula Badosa came through a third-set tie-break to beat Elena Rybakina 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-4) and Aryna Sabalenka put a spanner in the works of Bianca Andreescu's comeback by taking their match 6-1 3-6 6-2. 

Ons Jabeur beat Daria Kasatkina and Anett Kontaveit eventually ousted Ekaterina Alexandrova in a tie-break finale after surrendering the first set.

At the Istanbul Cup, third seed Veronika Kudermetova was granted a walkover against Ana Bogdan.  

Seeds Ajla Tomljanovic (6) and Sara Sorribes Tormo (7) got past Lesia Tsurenko and Varvara Gracheva respectively, while there were also wins for Yulia Putintseva and Anastasia Potapova. 

Iga Swiatek continued her impressive form as she crushed qualifier Eva Lys at the Stuttgart Open to clinch a 20th successive win and sail into the quarter-finals.

The world number one was far too good for her opponent, as she claimed her 6-1 6-1 victory in slightly over an hour.

Swiatek, 20, last lost a match in February and has not dropped a set since Indian Wells in March, winning each of the last 26 – that is the best such run on the WTA Tour since Serena Williams won 28 successive sets between the 2012 US Open and 2013 Australian Open.

Having won each of the past three events she has entered, Swiatek is the hot favourite to make it four on the bounce in Stuttgart, where she could meet reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu next in the last eight.

Raducanu, seeded eighth, began her campaign with an emphatic 6-1 6-2 win over Australia's Storm Sanders on Wednesday to set up a second-round clash with Tamara Korpatsch – the winner faces Swiatek.

Sixth seed Karolina Pliskova overcame compatriot Petra Kvitova 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-5) to progress, while Anett Kontaveit – the fifth favourite – saw off Angelique Kerber 3-6 6-4 6-4.

It was a bad day for some of the higher seeds in the Istanbul Cup, as three of the top five were eliminated.

Favourite Elise Mertens retired from her tournament opener with Rebecca Peterson due to a leg injury, though the Belgian was already 7-5 4-1 down.

Anhelina Kalinina and Jil Teichmann – seeded fourth and fifth, respectively – suffered surprise defeats as well.

Defending champion and second seed Sorana Cirstea appeared in danger of following them out as well, but rallied to defeat Arantxa Rus 3-6 6-1 7-5.

Ajla Tomljanovic also progressed, the Australian enjoying an impressive start against her countrywoman Jaimee Fourlis, winning 6-1 6-3.

Second seed Sorana Cirstea breezed through the first round of the Istanbul Cup on Tuesday as US Open champion Emma Raducanu prepares for her bow in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

The Romanian made short work of lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova in a 6-4 6-1 straight sets victory in Turkey to launch her defence of the title she won against Elise Mertens last year.

The Belgian – top seed once again in Istanbul – gets her campaign underway against Sweden's Rebecca Peterson on Wednesday.

Elsewhere, there were wins for seeds Veronika Kudermetova and Jil Teichmann, though Tereza Martincova is out after a surprise 6-4 7-5 loss to qualifier Anna Bondar.

World number 12 Raducanu meanwhile is also poised to get her latest tilt for silverware underway in Stuttgart in midweek, with the eighth seed facing qualifier Storm Sanders.

The title is up for grabs on the WTA Tour following Ash Barty's retirement, with her world number one successor Iga Swiatek a potential quarter-finalist for the Briton if she gets that far.

There will be no Coco Gauff in the mix however after the American made a first round exit in straight sets, losing to Daria Kasatkina 6-4 6-2.

Seventh seed Ons Jabeur, meanwhile, fought back to beat Marketa Vondrousova 4-6 6-2 6-3, while qualifier Eva Lys overcame Viktorija Golubic 5-7 7-5 7-5 to set up a second round clash with Swiatek.

Emma Raducanu has revealed the responsibility for her new-found affinity for Tottenham lies predominantly with her Spurs-obsessed support team.

Social media has been abuzz on Monday with photos and videos of the 19-year-old US Open champion training in a Tottenham jersey ahead of the Stuttgart Open.

The shirt even had her name and the number 10 emblazoned across the back, suggesting a particularly strong connection with the north London club. But it is not quite as it seems.

Raducanu, who was born in Toronto but raised in south-east London, said she has been heavily influenced by those close to her – although the presence of star duo Harry Kane and Son Heung-min was also a consideration.

"My whole team basically are big Spurs fans and I feel like they're egging me on," Raducanu told reporters.

"They're desperately trying to get me behind them! I don't necessarily follow football much, but I feel like now, because of them, I'm feeling some sort of connection.

"I loved following the Euros last year and watching Harry Kane, who's obviously the England captain, and Son, I'm a big fan of him as well. So yeah, I like to dabble."

Raducanu is seeded eighth for her first-ever tournament on clay this week and will begin her campaign against Storm Sanders on Wednesday.

While Raducanu's immediate aim is undoubtedly building momentum, she sees this tournament as a chance to make a statement on a surface she believes will be her strongest in the long term.

"It's going to be an exciting clay season," she added. "I'm not sure how it is going to go. I keep telling everyone around me that one day clay is going to be my surface and I still believe that.

"I think game-wise on clay, especially when you're playing outside, you definitely need to be a lot more patient and build the point.

"You can't just hit a big shot, whereas on a hard court, you might be able to get a weak shot straight away. You really need to build the point a lot more, which takes a lot more energy and physical demand.

"You just have to be more crafty, I think, and I think it's a good lesson, especially for someone younger like me, to develop more skills. 

"I'm looking forward to spending more time on the clay as the years go by because I do like sliding and moving on it, and it's just about again being able to repeat over and over."

There were two first-round matches played in Stuttgart on Monday, with Liudmila Samsonova claiming a double bagel when beating Chloe Paquet 6-0 6-0, while Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Shuai Zhang 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6).

Nick Kyrgios has defended Emma Raducanu amid a wave of recent criticism following the US Open champion's early exit from the Miami Open.

Raducanu was beaten by Katerina Siniakova in her first match in Miami this week after being given a bye into the second round.

She has won only four WTA Tour matches since sensationally becoming the first qualifier – male or female – to win a major in the Open Era at Flushing Meadows in September.

The 19-year-old has been in demand off the court, having last week announced she will be a brand ambassador for Porsche, but her business activities have attracted criticism.
 
Speaking after Raducanu's defeat to Siniakova, former world number five Daniela Hantuchova claimed the Briton has lost the locker room respect she had previously built up.

Kim Clijsters took aim at those who act as though they have "made it", meanwhile, though the four-time major winner did not mention Raducanu by name when making those comments.

Raducanu defended herself from the "unfair" accusations and Kyrgios has now questioned why former players have felt the need to take aim at the youngster.

"What’s with old retired players giving their opinion on our stars now?" he posted on Twitter, referencing a video uploaded by Andy Roddick on how players can curtail their anger.

"I love A-rod and I agree we all need to chill with the rackets and all that, but geezus.

"I read an article about a past female player talking about Radacanu, no offence, but she is a far, far bigger name already."

Emma Raducanu has hit back "unfair" criticism over her mounting sponsorship deals following her early exit from the Miami Open.

The US Open champion was beaten by Katerina Siniakova in her first match in Miami this week after being given a bye into the second round.

Raducanu has only won four WTA Tour matches since she was sensationally crowned champion at Flushing Meadows as a qualifier in New York last September.

The 19-year-old has been in demand off the court and last week revealed she will be a brand ambassador for Porsche.

Briton Raducanu insists she is still driving high standards in training as she strives to build on her maiden grand slam triumph.

"Maybe you just see, on the news or on social media, me signing this or that deal and I feel like it’s quite misleading because I’m doing five, six hours a day [in training], I’m at the club for 12 hours a day," the 19-year-old told reporters.

"But I throw out one post in the car on the way to practice and all of a sudden it’s 'I don't focus on tennis'. I think that it is unfair, but it's something I have learned to deal with and become a bit more insensitive to the outside noise.

"At the end of the day, I feel like my days [with sponsors] are pretty limited. I'm not doing crazy days. I'm doing three, four days every quarter, so it's really not that much."

Naomi Osaka is through to the third round of the Miami Open after beating former world number one Angelique Kerber in straight sets.

Osaka won the first three games of the match to jump out to an early lead, securing the set with a double-break before breaking early in the second to cruise to a 6-2 6-3 win.

The story of the match was Osaka's ease in winning points against Kerber's serve, winning 41 per cent (15/37) of Kerber's successful first serves, while the German could only win 11 per cent (3/27) in the same category.

Britain's top-ranked woman Emma Raducanu suffered another early exit, on the wrong end of Katerina Siniakova's comeback 3-6 6-4 7-5 win.

US Open champion Emma Raducanu is not planning on replicating Ash Barty after the world number one retired at the age of 25.

Barty announced her retirement on Wednesday less than two months after winning the Australian Open, saying she has accomplished all she set out to in the sport.

There has since been an outpouring of respect and admiration for Barty, with the prevailing sentiment being that it is a great loss for tennis.

Raducanu burst onto the scene last year with a run to the fourth round at Wimbledon that was followed by a remarkable triumph at Flushing Meadows, making history at the age of 18 in becoming the first player to win a grand slam as a qualifier in the Open Era, doing so without dropping a set.

And she is planning on staying on the WTA Tour for many years to come.

"For me, I want to be in the game as long as possible," Raducanu said.

"I'm only 19. I've just come on tour, which is pretty young.

"I want to be in the game till I'm in my 30s. We'll see what happens and how long I can last, to be honest."

Reflecting on Barty's career, one in which she took a break from the sport in 2014, briefly playing professional cricket, before returning in 2016, Raducanu added: "If you get oversaturated with one thing, it's not healthy with anything you do.

"I feel like that just shows, if you take time off, you come back, you're hungry, you're ready. 

Emma Raducanu knows she must "get stronger" after losing to Petra Martic in the third round of the Indian Wells Open.

Martic came from a set down to beat US Open champion Raducanu 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 7-5 on Sunday.

Teenager Raducanu has been troubled by a back injury and an issue with her hip.

The Brit says she was hampered at Indian Wells, but is confident she will be fit for the Miami Open next week.

"I think it's just part of not playing and having so much stop start and having five, six days to prepare for matches and then playing at that intensity,” she said.

"It was a tough one not being able to serve full out so I was having to work so hard just to hold.

"I've just got to get stronger. I've had it for the last few days, just a product of training hard and probably the last match was pretty intense too and it didn't settle down.

"When you are crossing your fingers to hold serve every time, it's tough. I couldn't really drive up and I was kind of struggling to turn and reach.

"The margins were so small. I should be good for Miami, for sure."

Two-time major winner Simona Halep secured a spot in the Indian Wells Open last 16 with a strong 6-3 6-4 victory over 16th seed Cori Gauff on Sunday.

Halep, who is aiming to rebuild her ranking in 2022 after an injury-hit second half of last year, was excellent with her return, particularly on Gauff's second serve to gain the edge.

The Romanian saved all four break points generated by Gauff, while she converted three of the nine break points that she created.

Halep, who started the year with victory at the Melbourne Summer Set 1 before a last-16 loss to Alize Cornet at the Australian Open, needed only one hour and 16 minutes to seal her progress.

She will next play Romanian compatriot Sorana Cirstea after the 26th seed won 5-7 6-1 6-0 against lucky loser Anna Kalinskaya.

Last year's US Open champion and British 11th seed Emma Raducanu was bundled out by Croatian world number 79 Petra Martic 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 7-5.

Raducanu had served for the match in the final set but the Croatian won the final three games. Martic triumphed in two hours and 46 minutes, reaching the last 16 at Indian Wells for the second time in her career.

Martic will face 28th seed Liudmila Samsonova who triumphed 6-4 7-6 (7-4) over Danka Kovinic.

Third seed Iga Swiatek came from a set down to win 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-1 over Clara Tauson in two hours and 18 minutes.

Swiatek has won seven straight matches and is unbeaten at WTA 1000 events this season, having triumphed in Doha last month.

The Pole will take on three-time major winner Angelique Kerber in the last 16 after the German won comfortably over Daria Kasatkina 6-2 6-1.

American 25th seed Madison Keys got past countrywoman Alison Riske 7-6 (7-4) 6-1, setting up a fourth-round meeting with British qualifier Harriet Dart who beat Kaia Kanepi in straight sets.

Emma Raducanu landed her first Indian Wells victory as the US Open champion said Andy Murray inspired her to see off Caroline Garcia.

There was a certain irony about that, given Garcia is the player Murray famously once tipped to become a world number one.

But seeing fellow Briton Murray battle past Taro Daniel prior to her own match fuelled Raducanu for her opening test at the WTA Indian Wells Open.

While it was not always comfortable for the 11th seed, Raducanu recovered from a shaky second set to win 6-1 3-6 6-1 against her French opponent.

Murray's pronouncement about Garcia's prospects came on Twitter in 2011 as he watched the then little-known player take on Maria Sharapova in the French Open.

Garcia reached as high as number four in 2018, and it is now Raducanu who looks the likelier future number one, having landed a breakthrough grand slam against all the odds in New York last year.

Raducanu was beaten on her Indian Wells debut by Aliaksandra Sasnovich last October, so to land a first win came as a relief.

She said in an on-court interview: "It's amazing to be back and I'm so happy to have got my first win in the desert here. I hope to come back for many more years.

"I thought the level of tennis was pretty high today, and it means a lot to have come through that because it could have gone either way."

Raducanu said Garcia "climbed on top" of her game in the second set, but, like Murray earlier, she kept enough back for a decider.

Speaking to Amazon Prime, she revealed how seeing Murray show his battling qualities against Daniel reminded her of what it takes in trying circumstances.

"I was watching pretty much the whole match until I had to go warm up," Raducanu said. "He was down, and it was a really tough one. To see him, I kind of wanted to follow him and learn from him and he kind of inspired me to dig in today when it got tough."

She added: "To get this win after a stop-start year that I've had at the beginning, it means a lot. I'm just really happy to have given myself another opportunity.

"For sure it's difficult after dropping a set. I knew I'd slipped up, and I'd missed too many first serves, and I was just thinking... 'Just think how bad you're gonna feel after the match if you let this one go'."