Naomi Osaka rallied to beat Yulia Putintseva in the second round of the China Open on Friday, ending a wait of over two years for a comeback victory.

Osaka came from a set down to win 3-6 6-4 6-2 and tee up a third-round meeting with Katie Volynets, extending her winning streak at the Beijing event to eight matches.

She had failed to win any of her previous 22 matches when going a set down, a streak she was mightily relieved to snap.

"I heard that stat from my agent," Osaka told reporters after her win. 

"I wanted to break it really badly because I knew that I also had a stat about three-setters before I took my break, so that was really important to me.

"I also wanted to show myself that I could win a match and fight without playing as perfectly as I wanted to."

Data Debrief: Back-to-back for Osaka

This is the first time Osaka has won back-to-back matches since June at 's-Hertogenbosch, where she reached the quarter-finals before falling to Bianca Andreescu.

The last time she won from a set down, meanwhile, was in the Miami Open semi-finals in 2022, when she beat Belinda Bencic before losing to Iga Swiatek in the final.

Yulia Putintseva produced an impressive upset, knocking defending champion Coco Gauff out of the Cincinnati Open in the second round.

The 29-year-old rallied over three sets to hold off Gauff's comeback with a 6-4 2-6 6-4 win in just under two hours.

Putintseva immediately set the tone by breaking the American's serve twice in the opening three games, and though Gauff pulled back to level things at 4-4, the Kazakh got another vital break to take the first set.

The world number two came out on a mission in the second though, piecing together a three-game winning streak as she managed to force a decider.

And it looked like Gauff had found her stride when she took a 4-2 lead, but Putintseva won the last four games in a row to turn the tide and set up a meeting with Paula Badosa in the next round.

Data Debrief: Gauff falls short again

After a disappointing Olympic debut, Gauff made an early exit from the Canadian Open, and she has been relegated to another early exit here.

She was looking to become just the second player to win consecutive titles here, but instead, she struggled once again, making nine double faults against a flawless opponent.

Meanwhile, Putintseva is playing her first tournament since Wimbledon, where she knocked out Iga Swiatek en route to the fourth round. Before this year, she had never progressed past the first round in Cincinnati. 

Now, she is only the fourth player in the past four decades ranked outside the WTA's top 20 to claim wins over the top two on multiple surfaces in a season.

Iga Swiatek has measured her expectations ahead of the Cincinnati Open this week, with the top-ranked seed placing full focus on the US Open later this month. 

Swiatek, who won bronze at the Paris Olympics earlier this month, returns to the hardcourt surface for the first time since the Miami Open back in March. 

The Pole has since won three titles on clay in Madrid, Rome and the French Open, before losing to Yulia Putintseva in the third round on the grass courts of Wimbledon. 

She returned to Roland-Garros with her eyes set on gold, but settled for a third place finish after beating Anna Karolína Schmiedlova in her bronze medal match.

However, Swiatek, who plays Ajla Tomljanovic or Varvara Gracheva in the second round this week, acknowledged how difficult the transition will be. 

"I know that the first tournament on hardcourts isn't going to be easy," said Swiatek. 

"So I'm going to try to treat it as a practice tournament, but not in a way that I don't care - more in a way that I want to implement all the stuff that I practiced on.

"I think it's the best approach for me now."

The US Open offers an opportunity for Swiatek to claim a second title Stateside, with the possibility of taking her grand slam total to six. 

But with Cincinnati first up, the Pole said that the Lindner Family Tennis Center is the perfect platform to build to the tournament in New York later this month. 

"I felt after the Olympics I need to reset and also focus on getting my technique back together and just grinding on court," Swiatek said.

"Here's the perfect place to do it. It feels a little bit less crazy, but on the other hand, even before the tournament, there are many people and a lot of fans.

"So you still feel it's an important tournament."

Iga Swiatek suffered a shock third-round exit at Wimbledon as the top seed fell to world number 35 Yulia Putintseva on Saturday.

Despite taking the first set, Swiatek was outclassed by the world number 35, falling to a 3-6 6-1 6-2 defeat on No. 1 Court.

The world number one had to wait until the eighth game to undo Putintseva, earning her first break point before closing out the set in dominant fashion.

Though many predicted Swiatek to hammer home her advantage, the Kazakh had other ideas. 

Putintseva responded emphatically, cutting through Swiatek to battle into her first round of 16 at Wimbledon and first at any major since making the 2020 US Open quarter-finals. 

Jelena Ostapenko awaits in the clash for a last-eight position on Monday after the Latvian needed just 59 minutes to win 6-1 6-3 against Bernarda Pera earlier in the day.

Data Debrief: Swiatek's Wimbledon hoodoo continues

Putintseva is the first women's player since Alison Riske against Ashleigh Barty in 2019 to win against the world number one at Wimbledon after losing the first set.

In stark contrast between the pair, Putintseva extended her win streak to eight matches after ending Swiatek's own run of 21 straight wins.

Swiatek still leaves the third major of the year with an outstanding 45-5 record on the season, yet grass-court tennis and Wimbledon remain a troublesome issue for the Pole.

Iga Swiatek progressed to the fourth round of the Italian Open by overcoming Yulia Putintseva on Saturday, fighting back from 4-1 down in the second set for a 6-3 6-4 win.

The world number one needed one hour and 47 minutes to see off Putintseva, who gave Swiatek her toughest test yet in Rome, finding success with a series of drop shots to build a healthy lead in the second set.

However, Swiatek fended off four break points to avoid going 5-1 down then produced back-to-back breaks as the momentum shifted, with Putintseva having no answer for her power from there.

Swiatek – who is looking to build on last week's triumph at the Madrid Open – will now face either Angelique Kerber or Aliaksandra Sasnovich in the last 16 on Monday.

Data Debrief: No stopping Swiatek

While Swiatek was tested on Saturday, it was an examination she passed with flying colours as she made it 25 straight clay-court wins against opponents ranked outside the world's top 10.

She is the first player on the WTA Tour to achieve that feat since Serena Williams did so in 2016.

Elena Rybakina saved two match points as she outlasted Yulia Putintseva to win a dramatic encounter 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 in the Madrid Open quarter-finals on Wednesday.

The world number four was on the brink of defeat at 5-2 down in the third set, with her fellow Kazakhstani Putintseva eyeing a third win in as many head-to-head meetings between the pair.

However, Rybakina came up with one of the shots of the tournament on Putintseva's first match point, capitalising on a drop shot clipping the net cord to produce a nonchalant winner.

The 2022 Wimbledon champion didn't look back from that moment on, producing back-to-back breaks before holding her nerve through a tense final service game, converting her fourth match point to wrap up a gruelling two-hour, 48-minute contest.

Rybakina has now won 16 successive matches on clay, and she will face either Aryna Sabalenka or Mirra Andreeva in the semi-finals on Thursday.

Data Debrief: Rybakina rampant 

Rybakina is the form player on the WTA circuit, with Wednesday's win her 30th of 2024, more than any other player.

She is just the second player to win 30 or more matches in tournaments starting within the first four months of a calendar year, after Iga Swiatek managed 32 victories during the same span in 2022. Swiatek, of course, went on to win the French Open and US Open titles that season.  

Aryna Sabalenka is through to the round of 32 at the Madrid Open after beating Sorana Cirstea 6-4 6-3 on Thursday.

It was an ominous start for Cirstea, being broken to love in the opening game, but she stuck with second seed Sabalenka and broke back, before ultimately being pipped to the first set by the impressive Belarusian.

The key was on break points, with Sabalenka claiming all five that she won against the Cirstea serve, while saving six of eight on her own as she ultimately eased to victory.

Sabalenka now has 26 wins on clay in the WTA since 2021, with only Ons Jabeur (37), Iga Swiatek (34), Paula Badosa (31) and Coco Gauff (28) having more during this time.

Gauff also advanced after a routine 6-4 6-1 win over Irene Burillo Escorihuela, making the sixth seed in Madrid the first player to win 35 WTA-1000 main draw matches as a teenager since 2009.

Ninth seed Maria Sakkari defeated Arantxa Rus 6-4 6-4 and fifth seed Caroline Garcia also had few problems against Yulia Putintseva, winning 6-3 6-4.

However, it was not a good day for 10th seed Petra Kvitova, who was beaten 7-6 (11-9) 6-1 by Jule Niemeier, while 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia also lost, 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 to Mirra Andreeva and 20th seed Donna Vekic was eliminated in straight-sets by Rebeka Masarova.

Jelena Ostapenko took just 61 minutes to get past Linda Fruhvirtova 6-0 6-3, and will face 14th seed Liudmila Samsonova next, who did not take much longer to see off Maryna Zanevska 6-2 6-3.

There were also wins for Elise Mertens, Badosa, Camila Osorio, Shelby Rogers, Mayar Sherif, Magda Linette and Irina-Camelia Begu.

Former world number three Elina Svitolina's first game back on the WTA Tour in more than 12 months ended in a near three-hour defeat to Yulia Putintseva in the Charleston Open first round on Monday.

Svitolina, 28, had been off the tour for a combination of injury and pregnancy, but was back in action for the first time since giving birth to her and male tennis player Gael Monfils' daughter Skai in October.

The Ukrainian, who reached both the Wimbledon and US Open semi-finals in 2019, won the first set after rallying back from 3-1 down in a tie-break

But the Kazakh world number 47 responded and prevailed 6-7 (3-7) 6-2 6-4 in two hours and 48 minutes, with Putintseva sapping her opponent's energy with frequent drop shots.

Former Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin was on track for victory in a topsy-turvy clash with Aliaksandra Sasnovich before rain intervened, forcing it to be re-scheduled for Tuesday with the American leading 6-1 6-7 (5-7) 3-0.

World number 50 Sloane Stephens fought back after an early scare to beat qualifier Louisa Chirico 3-6 6-1 6-2, while Alize Cornet breezed past Fiona Crawley 6-0 6-2.

Jil Teichman was one of three seeds to lose in the first round, going down 6-2 3-6 6-2 to 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova.

Ukrainian 11th seed Anhelina Kalinina lost 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 to Anna Kalinskaya, while 10th seed Zhang Shuai was beaten 6-4 1-6 6-3 by Julia Grabher.

Eugenie Bouchard returned for the first time since the 2023 Australian Open due to injury with a win over Ylena In-Albon 6-3 6-2 at the Copa Colsanitas in Bogota.

Third seed Nuria Parrizas Diaz was knocked out by Briton Francesca Jones, who is ranked 817th in the world, 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 in a major shock.

Camila Giorgi progressed into the Miami Open second round despite blowing a 5-0 third-set lead as she edged past veteran Kaia Kanepi in the equal-longest main draw match of the year on Tuesday.

The Italian world number 44, who won February's Merida Open, outlasted the Estonian 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (7-4) in three hours and 32 minutes.

The length was equal to the Erika Andreeva-Harriet Dart first-round match at the ATX Open last month for the longest this WTA season.

But Giorgi could have had an earlier finish, leading 5-0 in the decider before Kanepi hit back by winning the next five games, only for the Italian to rally in the tie-break, converting her fourth match point.

Giorgi, who blew match points at 5-3 and 5-4, will take on three-time Miami Open winner and 2023 Australian Open semi-finalist Victoria Azarenka in the second round.

Russian 34-year-old Evgeniya Rodina produced the upset of the day's play, beating 37th-ranked Bernarda Pera 6-3 6-4 in 73 minutes and will take on 20th seed Magda Linette in the second round.

Rodina is currently ranked 369th in the world having returned to the WTA Tour midway through last season after a two-year absence, having reached a career-high 67th in May 2019.

World number 39 Elise Mertens eased into the second round with a 6-1 6-4 win over USA's Alycia Parks, setting up a second-round clash with eighth seed Daria Kasatkina.

World number 43 Yulia Putintseva bowed out prematurely, going down 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 to Canada's Rebecca Marino, who advanced to face sixth seed Coco Gauff.

Teenager Linda Fruhvirtova, ranked 50th in the world, also suffered a shock loss, beaten 6-2 4-6 6-4 by 172nd-ranked Canadian qualifier Katherine Sebov, while Laura Siegemund won 6-3 6-4 over 52nd-ranked Mayar Sherif

Katerina Siniakova withdrew due to injury despite winning the first set against USA's Claire Liu, with scores at 6-3 3-3. Liu's prize is a second-round meeting with top seed and reigning champion Iga Swiatek.

Bianca Andreescu fell to Yulia Putintseva in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Open after making a swift return to action.

Andreescu, who has not won a title since her 2019 US Open success, looked to have returned to form at last week's Thailand Open, only to suffer an injury that forced her to quit her semi-final against Lesia Tsurenko while trailing in the second set.

The Canadian did not alter her schedule, however, and was back out on court to face Putintseva on Tuesday.

Despite twice leading by a break in the opening set, there was no repeat run to the latter stages for Andreescu, who went down 7-6 (7-2) 6-2.

"I think the first set was a really physical set, we played really, really tough rallies," Putintseva said. "I was feeling a little bit more confident in the second set."

Andreescu's compatriot Leylah Fernandez was also eliminated, losing to Shelby Rogers, but both seeds in action – Beatriz Haddad Maia and Liudmila Samsonova – advanced, along with Barbora Krejcikova and Karolina Pliskova.

At the Linz Open, top seed Maria Sakkari headed through with a 6-1 7-6 (8-6) defeat of Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, but number two seed Ekaterina Alexandrova went down to Rebeka Masarova in three sets.

Heather Watson stunned second seed Yulia Putintseva at the Thailand Open as the British player scored an impressive first-round win.

The 30-year-old Watson lost in qualifying for the recent Australian Open, having made the singles main draw for 11 consecutive years, but she is already beginning to make up for the Melbourne disappointment.

Kazakh Putintseva is ranked 44th in the world, while Watson has slipped to 160th, but the Guernsey native has been as high as 38th in her career and won four titles on the WTA Tour.

She showed there is still a hunger to succeed, edging a tight contest 5-7 6-4 7-5 (7-5) to make Putintseva the biggest early casualty.

Top seed Bianca Andreescu had no such trouble against Watson's compatriot Harriet Dart, as the Canadian went through a 6-3 6-4 winner.

Czech 17-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova, seeded eighth and at a career-high 51st in the WTA rankings, overwhelmed American veteran Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3 6-1.

Fellow seeds Marta Kostyuk, Anna Kalinskaya and Tatjana Maria also came through their opening tests at the tournament in Hua Hin.

At the Lyon Open, French top seed Caroline Garcia fended off Czech Tereza Martincova 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in round one, delighting a home crowd.

Champion at the WTA Finals at the end of last season, Garcia surprisingly lost in round four of the Australian Open to unseeded Pole Magda Linette, who went on a fairy tale run to the semi-finals.

Garcia said of Tuesday's win over Martincova: "It was a tough match. She's a great player. She's already played great battles against top players, and it's a first round, so you really never know what is going to happen."

Second seed Zhang Shuai beat American Madison Brengle 6-3 6-2, but eighth seed Anna Blinkova bowed out, retiring when 4-0 behind in a deciding set against fellow Russian Erika Andreeva.

Veronika Kudermetova saved five match points as she beat Danielle Collins to reach the Adelaide International 2 semi-finals before Belinda Bencic knocked Caroline Garcia out.

Sixth seed Kudermetova showed great defiance to defeat American Collins 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-1 on Thursday.

Kudermetova fended off five match points when serving to stay in the tournament at 6-5 down in the second set and duly forced a tie-break.

Collins, runner-up to Ash Barty in the Australian Open final last year, took a 3-0 lead in the breaker, but back came her Russian opponent to level the match.

The world number nine dominated the deciding set to seal a meeting with Bencic in the last four.

Eighth seed Bencic got the better of WTA Finals champion Garcia 6-2 3-6 6-4.

Garcia broke straight back after going 3-1 down in the final set, but Bencic broke for the fourth time in the match to go through.

Paula Badosa and Daria Kasatkina will contest the other semi-final after beating Beatriz Haddad Maia and Petra Kvitova respectively. 

Elisabetta Cocciaretto saved two match points as she came from a set down to beat Bernarda Pera 5-7 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 in the quarter-finals of the Hobart International. 

The 21-year-old Italian will now face 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin, who also stormed back to defeat Anhelina Kalinina 4-6 6-3 6-1.

Lauren Davis and Anna Blinkova will do battle in the other semi-final following wins over Wang Xinyu and Yulia Putintseva respectively. 

Stefanos Tsitsipas opened his United Cup campaign with a comeback victory over Grigor Dimitrov in Perth.

ATP world number four Tsitsipas is one of the headline names in action at the event, which is acting as a warm-up tournament for the Australian Open.

After going a set down to his Bulgarian opponent in his first game of the inaugural tournament, Tsitsipas hit back with a strong second set before holding his nerve in a tense tie-break in the decider, securing a 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4) win.

Tsitsipas's team-mate Despina Papamichail continued Greece's strong start, also coming from a set down to beat Isabella Shinikova 3-6 6-4 6-1.

Great Britain opened with a pair of victories, Cameron Norrie and Katie Swan earning straight sets triumphs over their Australian counterparts in Sydney.

Norrie, who was initially set to play Nick Kyrgios prior to the Wimbledon finalist's withdrawal due to an ankle injury, eased to a 6-3 6-3 victory over Alex De Minaur, while Swan defeated Zoe Hives. 

The United States are also taking a 100 per cent record into day two of the tournament, after Taylor Fritz and Madison Keys overcame Jiri Lehecka and Marie Bouzkova respectively, while France pair Arthur Rinderknech and Alize Cornet got off to winning starts against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo and Maria Lourdes Carle.

In Brisbane, Swiss hope Belinda Bencic secured a 7-6 (7-0) triumph over Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan and Beatriz Haddad Maia, the Brazilian world number 15, dispatched Italy's Martina Trevisan 6-2 6-0.

Two-time major winner Simona Halep continues to find form ahead of the upcoming US Open with a 6-4 7-6 (7-2) victory over Coco Gauff clinching her spot in the Canadian Open semi-finals.

Halep defeated 10th seed Gauff, who had beaten Naomi Osaka, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka this week, in one hour and 47 minutes.

The Romanian 15th seed was broken five times and sent down eight double faults, but found the edge with speed, finesse and power.

The win means Halep has won the third most matches (36-10) on the WTA Tour this season, behind only top-ranked Iga Swiatek (49) and Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeir (37).

Halep's improved form comes after she teamed up with Serena Williams' ex-coach Patrick Mouratoglou in April following a difficult 2021 season.

"Before I met him I was super down with my motivation," Halep told reporters. "I couldn't really work, keep working. I was almost done with tennis. He brought this fire back and the motivation. He trusted that I still can play good tennis and he transferred this to me."

The 2018 French Open and 2019 Wimbledon champion added: "Physically I'm good. Mentally I'm good, so I think it's all positive."

Halep, who won the Canadian Open in 2018, has reached the semi-finals for the fifth time in her career where she will take on seventh seed Jessica Pegula.

Pegula got past Yulia Putintseva 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 21 minutes. Qualifying for the last four at the Canadian Open for the second straight year.

Brazilian Beatriz Haddad Maia maintained her Canadian Open run, having ousted Swiatek in the third round and local favourite Leylah Fernandez in the second, with a 2-6 6-3 6-3 victory over Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic in two hours and 11 minutes.

Haddad Maia became the first Brazilian to reach the semi-finals of a WTA 1000 tournament. She will face Karolina Pliskova in the semi-finals after the Czech 14th seed beat Qinwen Zheng 4-6 6-4 6-4.

Second seed Yulia Putintseva was eliminated from the Palermo Ladies Open at the quarter-final stage by Diane Parry on Thursday.

Putintseva was the strong favourite to overcome world number 86 Parry, but it was the latter who prevailed 6-3 6-4 to reach her first tour-level quarter-final.

Caroline Garcia also advanced through after recovering from a heavy first-set loss to overcome Elisabetta Cocciaretto 0-6 6-3 6-4.

Home hope Lucia Bronzetti awaits in the final eight following a 6-1 6-3 win over Elina Avanesyan, while Nuria Parrizas-Diaz beat Julia Grabher 6-2 6-4 in the day's other match.

At the Hamburg European Open, in-form Bernarda Pera beat Katerina Siniakova 6-3 6-1 to make it 10 wins in a row without dropping a set.

Pera is through to her second semi-final in a row, where she will take on Maryna Zanevska, who saw off Aliaksandra Sasnovich in straight sets for a second career top-50 victory.

Top seed Anett Kontaveit advanced after Andrea Petkovic withdrew injured when 6-0 2-0 down, but Barbora Krejcikova was on the end of a 6-1 6-3 upset against Anastasia Potapova.