World No. 1 Naomi Osaka defeated Hsieh Su-wei 6-4, 6-3 in her first clay court match of the season in Stuttgart on Thursday. US and Australian Open champion Osaka, who lost to Taiwanese veteran Hsieh in Miami last month, secured a place in the quarterfinals against Croatia's Donna Vekic. Osaka, 21, broke Hsieh three times in total to beat Hsieh for the second time in three attempts this year, having also defeated her on the way to lifting the title in Melbourne. "She's a really tricky opponent. You never really know what she's going to do," said Osaka. Osaka needed 84 minutes to dispatch the unconventional Hsieh, a win that ensures she will hold on to top spot for at least another week. She is less than 200 points ahead of Simona Halep in the WTA rankings, although the Romanian pulled out of this week's tournament with a hip injury. Top seed Osaka fought off the only two break points she faced, in a lengthy service hold for 2-all in the opening set, before breaking Hsieh in the following game. That was sufficient to wrap up the first set, and a Hsieh double-fault handed Osaka a break to start the second before she closed out victory with another service break in a performance that featured 22 winners and just 16 unforced errors. The Japanese star arrived in Stuttgart, where she last played in Stuttgart as a qualifier in 2017, after suffering early exits in her last three tournaments. "Definitely I've put a lot on pressure on myself and found it hard to deal with in the first few tournaments," said Osaka. "I'm really having fun now though." Osaka will meet Vekic, a 6-1, 7-5 winner over Daria Kasatkina, for a spot in the last four, while Latvian seventh seed Anastasija Sevastova defeated Germany's Laura Siegemund 6-4, 6-3. Belarusian Victoria Azarenka made a winning return to Stuttgart with a 7-5, 6-4, victory over Russia's Vera Zvonareva in what was an engrossing battle in the first round. Azarenka was pushed in the opening set, especially by Zvonareva's first serve, but fought back to break her four times in the match. The last time the pair met was in 2011 when they were both ranked in the top 10. "We're both in completely different stages of our careers, we're both moms," Azarenka said. "I think I'm playing better than I used to before, I believe I'm much more of a complete player than I used to be. I'm in the process of building my game up again." The 29-year-old, a two-times Australian Open champion, also had to overcome jet lag after competing in the Fed Cup semifinal in Australia at the weekend. "I have no idea right now of the time or what's happening," she told reporters. "The flight from Australia was so long I felt like it was never going to end! It was a huge challenge for me today and I'm very happy with the way I handled it." Azarenka will take on fourth seed and defending champion Karolina Pliskova next for a spot in the quarterfinals. World No. 3 Petra Kvitova, who received a bye to the second round, cruised through to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Belgian qualifier Greet Minnen in a game where she covered the court well and anticipated shots to take a quick lead. Minnen was no match for Kvitova in the first set but found her groove in the second to test the Australian Open runner-up. However, it was too little too late for the 21-year-old as Kvitova wrapped up the match in 73 minutes. Earlier, Switzerland's Belinda Bencic started the tournament strongly with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over qualifier Mandy Minella. Bencic, who ended a four-year title drought in February when she beat Kvitova in Dubai, struck 24 winners with her aggressive returns dominating the Luxembourger. The result pits Bencic against sixth seed Kiki Bertens. Last year's semifinalist Anett Kontaveit of Estonia breezed past France's Caroline Garcia with a 6-4, 6-3 win while Donna Vekic beat Giulia Gatto-Monticone 6-1, 7-5, to advance. 2011 champion Julia Goerges' first match was cut short by injury with the German forced to retire when she was trailing 4-0 in the final set to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Goerges had taken the first set 6-4 before the Russian took the second 6-2. — Agencies
