Top-ranked Osaka gets 1st-round win in Birmingham on grass

While I understand that her playing style is not suitable for clay, I thought she should like the grass courts, they are quite fast and favoring attacking players with a strong service game like herself

Osaka needs to reach the final in Birmingham to guarantee holding on to top spot in the rankings

The good news is that with her unimpressive Wimbledon result last year, there's lots of room for improvement this year, giving her a chance to regain any ground lost on her ranking.

I hope she has a good tournament but every tournament she fails to make the finals adds more pressure since she dumped her winning coach. Good luck Naomi!