Osaka survives Stephens to launch Indian Wells return

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka wouldn’t be blown off course in her return to Indian Wells, outlasting Sloane Stephens 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in a blockbuster first-round clash.

Japan’s Osaka, playing her first tournament since a third-round exit at the Australian Open saw her plummet out of the top 80 in the world rankings, was a break down at 0-2 in the third set but won the last six games to secure the victory over former US Open champion Stephens at the WTA and ATP Masters event.

In gusting California desert winds, Osaka saved three break points in the third game of the third set to launch her final rally of a match that featured a string of momentum shifts.

She polished it off by breaking Stephens at love in the final game.

“I felt like I was fighting for my life,” Osaka said. “I was playing against her, I was playing against the wind. It was crazy.

“I just kept thinking she was going through the same circumstances as me, so I just had to push myself to try as hard as I could.”

The winds were picking up just as Osaka and Stephens took Stadium Court, with afternoon shadows making things even more difficult in the early going.

Osaka seemed to settle in quicker, taking a 3-1 lead, but Stephens won five straight games to pocket the opening set before Osaka roared back in the second — winning four games before Stephens managed her lone service hold.

The marquee first-round match was an outlier at Indian Wells, where all 32 seeded players in both the men’s and women’s draws enjoy first-round byes.

But Osaka and Stephens weren’t among them, Osaka starting the week ranked 78th in the world and Stephens 38th, although the American came in on the rise after claiming her first title since 2018 in Guadalajara last month.