Miami Open: Naomi Osaka knocks out Serena Williams in the First round

23-Grand Slams-winner Serena Williams was knocked out in the first round of the Miami Open by a 20-year-old emerging Japanese player Naomi Osaka. Unseeded as she did not appear in the court for 13 months following her pregnancy issues, Serena faced a straight 6-3, 6-2 defeat wit Osaka who was still an unknown in tennis.

NAOMI
OSAKA

Giving you another reason to remember the name.

She def. @serenawilliams 6-3, 6-2. pic.twitter.com/9GdcrfcXXf

— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) March 21, 2018

Nobody will easily forget her now after her brilliant performance against the former women's world number one.

Osaka is an unseeded player but moved to the world no. 22 last week following her first career title on Sunday at Indian Wells in Southern California. She defeated some of the popular faces like Maria Sharapova, fifth seed Karolina Pliskova and world No1 Simona Halep to win her maiden title.

She will now face world No4 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the 2nd round. Following her win, Osaka revealed Serena Williams as the inspiration for playing tennis in childhood.

Omg pic.twitter.com/D2K3H4ESAv

— NaomiOsaka????? (@Naomi_Osaka_) March 21, 2018

Osaka said,"I was extremely nervous coming on to the court. I don’t know if anybody knows this but Serena is my favorite player.  So just playing against her is kind of like a dream for me. I’m very grateful I was able to play her and it is even better that I was able to win."

Serena was playing her fourth match after the birth of her child. She was defeated in the third round by her sister Venus Williams at Indian Wells.

Osaka was born to Haitian and Japanese parents in Osaka, Japan. She holds both Japanese as well as American citizenship as she was raised in America after her family moved when she was 3. Currently, she lives in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

In the other game, former no. 1 Victoria Azarenka defeated Catherine Bellis 6-3, 6-0. Azarenka is a three-time Miami Open champion. She has also recently made her comeback to the tennis after the birth of her child.