Naomi Osaka of Japan hits the ball against Madison Keys of the US during their 2016 US Open Women's Single match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Centre in New York on September 2, 2016.
— AFP picPERTH, Jan 4 — Youngster Naomi Osaka showed why she is regarded as a star of the future with a brave victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova as Russia beat Japan 2-1 at the mixed teams Hopman Cup in Perth today.
Both sides were already out of finals contention and Russian Karen Khachanov then squared the Group B tie with a comfortable win over Yuichi Sugita in the men’s singles.
The match between Osaka and Pavlyuchenkova featured a host of momentum changes as the form of both players ebbed and flowed, and the Japanese woman struggled with her health.
After losses to top 10 duo Roger Federer and Jack Sock in his previous singles outings, the towering Khachanov was dominant against Sugita, breaking the Japanese player’s serve five times.
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