Pegula, Osaka Shine in Grass-Court Returns at Libema Open

Jessica Pegula and Naomi Osaka made triumphant returns to the tennis court on Tuesday at the Libema Open in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands.

Pegula, the top seed, cruised past qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 6-2 in her first match since suffering a rib injury that sidelined her for the entire European clay season. The American dominated the match, converting five of her seven break points and dropping serve only once.

"I've been healthy for a few weeks now," Pegula said. "I don't think much has really changed. Iga dominated the clay season, what else is new? Now we go into grass and I'm sure the grass-court players will do well."

Pegula's victory marks her first on grass since reaching the quarterfinals of Wimbledon last year. She is hoping to build on that success and gain confidence ahead of the upcoming Grand Slam.

Osaka, a four-time major winner, also impressed in her first grass-court match since 2019 Wimbledon. The Japanese star defeated fourth-seeded Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-4 in 69 minutes. Osaka powered past the Belgian with 21 winners and converted all three of her break point chances.

"I'm going to play two extra weeks on grass now," Osaka said. "Hopefully I can do well and make up some points or at least gain confidence and matches there and then be ready to go for the rest of the year."

Osaka is seeking her first grass-court trophy. Prior to Tuesday, her last win on the surface came in June 2019 in Birmingham. All of her 11 previous tour-level final appearances have been on hard courts.

The Libema Open is a WTA 250 tournament that serves as a warm-up event for Wimbledon. The tournament features a strong field of players, including former world No. 1 Simona Halep and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova.

Tags: #JessicaPegula, #NaomiOsaka, #LibemaOpen, #GrassCourtTennis, #Wimbledon