WTA China Open: Naomi Osaka vs Yulia Putintseva; Preview, Head-to-Head, and Prediction

Fasten your seatbelts! In-form Kazakhstan tennis player, Yulia Putintseva takes on hard-court specialist, Naomi Osaka (JPN) in the R64 of the 2024 China Open. Putintseva has played some outstanding tennis this season and has already won a title at the Birmingham Classic. On the other hand, although Osaka displayed a fair bit of resilience and came up with an incredible brand of tennis, she has failed to maintain consistency in her game. Can this lack of inconsistency yet again prove costly to the Japanese, or will she make a stellar run in Beijing?

Naomi Osaka vs Yulia Putintseva: Preview

Naomi Osaka’s best results this season came at the Qatar Open and the s-Hertogenbosch, NL. She reached the SF on both occasions, however, her performance at the US Open was extremely disappointing. The four-time Grand Slam champion was defeated by the Czech Republic’s Karolina Muchova in the second round of the 2024 US Open. Although she made a strong comeback by defeating Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti in the R128 of the China Open, it’ll be interesting to see if she can hold on to this winning moment with a win against Putintseva.

Apart from winning a title this year in Birmingham, Yulia Putintseva has made quite a few QF runs this season. However, she’ll be entering this match after her R32 exit from the Korea Open at the hands of America’s Amanda Anisimova. The young American tennis player defeated the 29-year-old Putintseva by 6-2,7-6(5) in that match. Have Putintseva ever faced Osaka before in her career, though?

Osaka vs Putintseva: Head-to-Head

Yes, they have played against each other five times now. Currently, Yulia Putintseva leads the H2H scoreline against Naomi Osaka by a 3-2 margin.

• 2018 Hobart International R32: Putintseva 6-3,6-3.
• 2019 Birmingham Classic R16: Putintseva 6-2,6-3.
• 2019 Wimbledon R1: Putintseva 7-6(4),6-2.
• 2019 Japan Women’s Open QF: Osaka 6-4,6-4.
• 2024 BJK Cup Quafiers R1: Osaka 6-2,7-6 (5).

Prediction: Putintseva to win this match in straight sets

Ruling out the former world number one on hard courts is a bold call! However, if we consider the current form of both players, then it’s even tougher to keep Yulia Putintseva out of this race. The Kazakhstan superstar is currently ranked 32nd in the world and she has a win-loss record of 30-16. On the other hand, Naomi Osaka is ranked 73 in the women’s singles ranking. She has a win-loss record of just 19-16. We agree Osaka has been taking one step at a time in her comeback season. However, at the same time, we believe she still needs some time to get back to her vintage form. Moreover, she has only recently started working with her new coach Patrick Mouratoglou. 

Naomi Osaka’s aggressive baseline game will be put to some real test against a counterpunch like Yulia Putintseva. If we take a closer look at their playing styles, Osaka has excellent raw power, especially on her forehand and her serve. In fact, she’s one of the fastest servers on the women’s tour. Osaka has hit 214 aces so far this season and committed just 91 double faults. Even in her last match against Bronzetti, we saw her hitting 8 aces, but she committed 3 double faults. Naomi Osaka can use her power to hit a high number of winners. Apart from all these, her key to success is also her incredible ability to win long rallies.

We don’t expect this match to go deep, but if it does enter a third set, then the fans are in for treat! Yulia Putintseva’s strength has been her ability to return the balls with some real power and precision. She can absorb the attracts from her opponent patiently and then she looks to capitalize on whatever openings she gets during her matches. Even Putintseva is often seen engaging in longer rallies. Her incredible court coverage, along with her defensive prowess, is what makes her a real tough competitor. She also has good tactical awareness. So, overall, looking at their performances in the tournaments this year, Putintseva looks to be a favorite in this match.