Naomi Osaka advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open for the fifth straight year Wednesday with a 6-1, 6-2 win over heavy-hitting Italian Camila Giorgi.
The 2018 champion from Japan raced out to a 5-0 lead in the first set after twice breaking her 74th-ranked counterpart's serve. She then broke in the first game of the second set on her way to closing out the match in 1 hour, 10 minutes.
"I think my serve was pretty good," said world No. 9 Osaka, who won 79 percent of points on her first serve. "I'm really happy with my attitude. I thought I was really positive throughout."
Osaka pulled out of the Western and Southern Open final on Saturday with a left hamstring complaint. She wore strapping on the area Wednesday -- unlike in her first-round win Monday against compatriot Misaki Doi -- but appeared to have no issues as she dispatched Giorgi, who committed 24 unforced errors to Osaka's 11.
Osaka continued her stand against racial injustice and police violence, entering the court wearing a face mask bearing the name of Elijah McClain, a 23-year-old African American man who died in August 2019 in Colorado after reportedly being placed in a chokehold by police.
Before the first round, Osaka, whose mother is Japanese and father is Haitian, wore a mask with the name of Breonna Taylor, a black woman killed by Louisville police in March. Osaka after the match said she had seven similar masks.
Osaka faces 137th-ranked Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, 18, in the third round.
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