Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka are racing for the world no.1 rank. Japanese number one had a good chance to snatch the top rank from the Australian after the Miami Open. Osaka was the favorite to win the tournament in South Florida, and in that case if Ashley couldn’t reach the final, Naomi would have become the world number one after the event.
Eventually, things didn’t go that well for the Japanese that lost already in the quarterfinal to Maria Sakkari. On the other side, Barty won the Miami Open to consolidate her leadership in the rankings.
The Australian leads Naomi Osaka by 1,201 points. Furthermore, Barty will play next week in Charleston, while Naomi will not compete for 3 weeks to be back only for the Madrid Open (26th of April). This means that Barty has the opportunity to wider the gap with Naomi Osaka.
Ashleigh Barty in 2021
Ranked no.1, the Australian played her last match on the 3rd of April when she defeated world no.9 Bianca Andreescu 6-3 4-0 in the final in Miami to win her 9th career title.
Currently, during this year Ashleigh has a compiled 14-2 record. Ashleigh clinched 2 titles in 2021 in Melbourne and in Miami.
Naomi Osaka in 2021
Currently the world no.2, Osaka played her last match on the 31st of March when she was defeated by world no.25 Maria Sakkari 6-0 6-4 in the quarter in Miami (draw).
Until now, during this year the Japanese has a 12-1 record. The Japanese clinched 1 title at the Australian Open.
Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka faced off 4 times. Their record is 2-2. Previously, the last time when they squared off, 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 highlights.
Ashleigh Barty and Naomi Osaka |
| Embed from Getty Images |
