Miami, Mar 21, 2025, IANS

Miami, March 21 (IANS) Naomi Osaka defeated No. 24 seed Samsonova 6-2, 6-4 at the Miami Open to enter the third round. Osaka, the 2022 Miami Open finalist, held off a very last-minute surge by her opponent to close out the match in 1 hour and 22 minutes, repeating her win over Samsonova from Indian Wells last year. Osaka and Samsonova faced off in the second round of a WTA 1000 event during the Sunshine Double. And for the second year in a row, former World No. 1 Japanese came away the straight-sets victor, according to WTA. After a first-round loss at this year's Indian Wells event, Osaka has been back on track in Miami, following up her come-from-behind win over Yuliia Starodubtseva with her victory over Samsonova. Osaka has now compiled an 8-3 win-loss record in 2025. Osaka's next opponent will be wild card Hailey Baptiste of the United States. Earlier on Thursday, Baptiste collected her third career Top 20 win with a gripping 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 upset of No. 12 seed Daria Kasatkina. Osaka and Baptiste faced off for the first time in the first week of this year, in the Auckland quarterfinals. On that occasion, Osaka prevailed 6-7(2), 6-1, 6-2, en route to a runner-up showing to Clara Tauson in New Zealand. Elsewhere, No. 14 seed Danielle Collins, who won her first WTA 1000 title here in Miami last year, joined Osaka in the third round after her night-session victory. Collins defeated Romania's Sorana Cirstea 6-4, 7-6(3) in Thursday's final match on the stadium court. She now holds a perfect 3-0 record against Cirstea after her 1-hour and 40-minute win. Next up for Collins in her title defense will be her first meeting with qualifier Rebeka Masarova of Switzerland. Earlier on Thursday, Masarova upset Donna Vekic 6-1, 6-3 to earn her third career Top 20 win. In another action, third-seeded Coco Gauff thumped her fellow American Sofia Kenin without the loss of a game in 47 minutes. It was the second 6-0, 6-0 victory of Gauff's career, having also defeated Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands by that score last year in Madrid, WTA reports. Gauff, who has never been past the fourth round in Miami, will face No. 28 seed Maria Sakkari in the third round -- for the second time in as many tournaments.