Japan's World No. 1 shocked 2-6, 3-6 by Kazakhstan's Putintseva in second round; might lose No. 1 spot to Barty
Naomi Osaka is dejected after losing a point to Yulia Putintseva during Rd 2 tie of the Birmingham Classic yesterday. Pic/Getty Images
Birmingham: World No. 1 Naomi Osaka succumbed to a straight sets defeat to Yulia Putintseva at the Birmingham Classic yesterday, handing Ashleigh Barty the chance to end the week on top of the rankings.
Osaka admitted ahead of her first grass court tournament of the season that she is still not at home on the surface and it showed as Putintseva romped to a 6-2, 6-3 win.
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Short of practice
The US and Australian Open champion now runs the risk of heading into Wimbledon short of match practice on the grass as she has not signed up to play in Eastbourne next week.
French Open champion Barty can secure World No. 1 by winning the title in Birmingham and she eased into the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Jennifer Brady.
Only the rain threatened to slow Barty as it delayed the start of the match and then briefly interrupted the second set. However, Barty was too focused and too good for Brady and made it nine wins in a row.
Sharapova crashes out
Meanwhile, Maria Sharapova's return from injury came to an abrupt end yesterday as she was beaten 6-2, 6-3 by Angelique Kerber. Sharapova had not played since the end of January after taking time out to recover from a shoulder injury and her lack of sharpness was exposed by Kerber, who cruised into the quarter-finals.
Kerber will now face either Spaniard Paula Badosa Gibert or France's Caroline Garcia, for a spot in the last four.
Sharapova had registered an impressive opening victory over Viktoria Kuzmova on Tuesday but Kerber was always going to offer a sterner test of the five-time major champion's form and fitness.
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