Naomi Osaka responded with a straight sets victory over Liudmila Samsonova in the second round of the Miami Open on Thursday, days after speaking about her difficulties in coming back to the sport after pregnancy.

Osaka gave birth to her daughter in July 2023 and, following her first-round victory in Miami, had spoken about the learning process in her comeback.

“I can’t speak for all the mothers, but for me in particular it was really hard to come back after pregnancy," she said.

"I’ve learned a lot of abdomen terms that I’ve never heard of before, so I feel very knowledgeable now.

“Yeah, I’m just really, really glad to be here and really glad to be healthy. It’s really inspiring to see all the other mothers playing really well.

“Working on I guess not being as nervous. I feel like some of my shots didn’t go the way I wanted them to because I was a little shaky, so hopefully with more matches under my belt that will go away.”

On Thursday, Osaka managed to hold off a late challenge from Samsonova to make it through another round, winning 6-2 6-4.

The 27-year-old was dominant in the first set, dropping just two points on serve throughout. She won a crucial break when 3-2 ahead and then 12 of the last 14 points in the set.

The second began with a similar pattern, with Osaka breaking Samsonova at 3-2 and she even had a match point at 5-3 but could not convert. From then, Samsonova narrowed the gap to 5-4, though another break helped Osaka close out the set and match.

Osaka will meet Hailey Baptiste in the next round.

Under the Miami moonlight! @naomiosaka is into the third round after defeating Samsonova 6-2, 6-4. #MiamiOpen pic.twitter.com/nsMwWZNuOs

— wta (@WTA) March 21, 2025

Data debrief: Osaka getting back to her best

Osaka won 89% of her first-serve points and 57% of return points in the first set.

She also recorded six aces in the match compared to Samsonova's three.

Samsonova won just 56% of her service games, while also registering four double faults during the match.