Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka have been racing for the world no.1 rank in Miami and eventually the Australian won the battle. The Japanese no.1 had the opportunity to be back at the top of the rankings if she won the Miami Open and Barty didn’t reach the final. However, that will not happen after Osaka was shocked by Maria Sakkari with a straightforward 6-0 6-4 loss in the quarterfinal.
After these events, Ashleigh Barty will keep her world no.1 rank at least until Madrid (26th of April), given the fact that Naoi will not play in any tournament until then.
Barty in Miami, ranking, and results in 2021
Currently ranked no.1, the Australian has managed to achieve a composed 12-2 match record in 2021. Ashleigh is playing at the moment in Miami where she ousted Kristina Kucova 6-3 4-6 7-5, Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-2, Victoria Azarenka 6-1 1-6 6-2 and Aryna Sabalenka 6-4 6-75 6-3.
Ashleigh Barty will fight against the world no.5 Elina Svitolina in the semifinal. Their head to head is 5-1 for Svitolina.
Ashleigh conquered 1 title in 2021 in Melbourne.
Ashleigh won 9 titles in her career: 5 on hard courts, 1 on clay courts, 1 on indoor courts and 2 on grass courts. (See the list of her titles)
Naomi Osaka in 2021
Currently the world no.2, Naomi played her last match on the 31st of March when she capitulated to world no.25 Maria Sakkari 6-0 6-4 in the quarter in Miami (draw).
During this season the Japanese has achieved a composed 12-1 match record. Osaka conquered 1 title at the Australian Open.
Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka faced off 4 times. The head to head is 2-2. Previously, the last time when they competed against each other, Naomi Osaka won 3-6 6-3 6-2 in the final in Beijing (China Open) in October 2019.
In the following video you can watch the key moments of their match.
