Naomi Osaka is about to commence her Miami Open campaign with also the aim to snatch the world no.1 rank from Ashleigh Barty. Naomi is currently ranked no.2, however, finally the freeze of the rankings is coming to an end and the Japanese sensation has the opportunity to get to the top of the rankings again.
How Naomi will be No.1 again after Miami
Ashleigh Baty will “lose” 1000 points since she is the defending champion in Florida, while Naomi will jettison just 65 points since she crashed out in the 3rd round in Miami in 2019. Therefore they will start their run at the Miami Open with Naomi having 7780 points while Ashleigh Barty will have just 8196 points.
Therefore, Naomi needs to win the Miami Open and she will be the new world no.1 in 2 weeks if the Australian will not reach the final.
Naomi was already ranked no.1 back in January 2019 after she won the Australian Open. Osaka’s record in Miami is not so great since she played 4 times and her best result was reaching the 3rd round in 2016 and 2019.
Osaka will face either Ajla Tomljanovic or Anastasia Potapova in her opener. Barty will apply against a qualifier.
Naomi Osaka in 2021
Ranked no.2, Osaka played her last match on the 20th of February when she overcame Jennifer Brady 6-4 6-3 in the final of the Australian Open to win her 7th career title.
This year Naomi achieved an overall 10-0 win-loss record. Osaka has won 1 title at the Australian Open.
Ashleigh Barty in 2021
Currently ranked no.1, Barty played her last match on the 24th of February when she was overcome by Danielle Collins 6-3 6-4 in the 2nd round in Adelaide (draw).
At present, during this year Ashleigh owns a composed 8-2 win-loss record. Ashleigh has won 1 title in Melbourne.
Naomi Osaka and Ashleigh Barty fought against each other 4 times. Their head to head is 2-2. Previously, the last time when they played each other, Naomi Osaka won 3-6 6-3 6-2 in the final in Beijing (China Open) in October 2019.
You can watch the highlights in the following video.
