Osaka falters in Madrid, but adds new sponsor

MADRID—Naomi Osaka got off to a good start in Madrid until the final four games on Thursday. Playing as the top seed in just her third appearance at the WTA Premier clay event, Osaka beat Dominika Cibulkova, Sara Sorribes Tormo and Aliaksandra Sasnovich.

She also announced yet another sponsorship, this time with Mastercard. She added the logo to her Nike visor, another bold move for the Japanese star as Nike usually doesn't allow patches. The 21-year-old is also sponsored by All Nippon Airways, Shiseido, Nissan, Nissin Group, Citizen, Yonex and Wowow.

On Thursday, the world No. 1 went up a set against Belinda Bencic, the same player who took her out in Indian Wells, 6-3, 6-1. But instead of closing things out, Osaka faltered after leading 5-3 in the third set and lost four straight games to bow out, 3-6, 6-2, 7-5.

"I think I was just thinking about too many things," Osaka said. "Like, I wanted to win this match so much... And also people have been telling me like if I get to the semis here, of course I can stay No. 1. So, I wanted to do that and I was thinking about that while I was playing, which wasn't necessarily a good thing."

It's another small hiccup for Osaka after having to withdraw from the Stuttgart semifinals with an abdominal injury. Since winning the Australian Open, she hasn't contested another final, but there's still plenty of time in the 2019 season.

"I mean, all in all, I'm really happy because I wasn't sure if I could serve in the first match and I was able to and that was my biggest concern coming into it," Osaka said. "And, of course, I wanted to play this tournament and I'm going to play Rome, too, so there's a lot of happy things to take from this because I lost in the first round last year so anything is an improvement, honestly."

The only other setback coming in fast for Osaka is that she may lose the No. 1 ranking. Simona Halep, who's comfortably into the semifinals and plays Bencic next, could regain the top spot if she wins the title.

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