Naomi Osaka vs Hailey Baptiste Prediction WTA Auckland Tennis Picks 1/3/25

Naomi Osaka cruised into her first WTA quarterfinal since June 2024 at the 2025 ASB Classic in Auckland.

Osaka is the seventh seed at this week's WTA 250 event in New Zealand and won her opening match against Israeli qualifier Lina Glushko in straight sets. The match took 20 games to decide.

Osaka won her second-round match against Austria's Julia Grabher also in straight sets. The match took 21 games to decide. She hit seven aces and four double faults in the victory.

Osaka got 55% of first serves in play and won 77% of first-serve points (23/30). The Japanese star won 64% of second-serve points (16/25) and only faced one break point in the match.

The four-time Grand Slam champion won 41% of return points (28/69) and converted three of seven break points on the Grabher serve.

Osaka has spent less than three hours on court this week, with both her matches lasting in the range of 80-90 minutes.

Hailey Baptiste Preview

Hailey Baptiste will be contesting her first WTA quarterfinal at the 2025 ASB Classic in Auckland.

In the first round she accounted for an excellent straight-sets win over the rising Slovakian youngster Renata Jamrichova. She dropped only two games.

In the second round, she beat British lucky loser Jodie Burrage 5-7, 7-5, 7-6 in two hours and 56 minutes, one of the longest matches of the week so far in Auckland. 

Baptiste saved a crucial break point to hold for 6-5 in the second set and went on to win it, and then rallied from 3-5 down in the decider, by saving a match point. The American went on to win the tie-break by the narrowest of margins in a thriller.

It's the first time she's won back-to-back matches at WTA level since Wuhan last October.

Naomi Osaka vs Hailey Baptiste Head-To-Head

• This will be the first meeting between Naomi Osaka and Hailey Baptiste.

Naomi Osaka vs Hailey Baptiste Prediction

It's been a solid level from Naomi Osaka this week in Auckland where she is competing for only the second time in her career. Her previous visit to New Zealand in 2017 ended prematurely with an injury forcing her to retire from the quarterfinal.

But she arrived here healthy and upbeat about her chances of competing and doing well in 2025. So far, it's been serene progress for the four-time Grand Slam champion who has not dropped a set. And I fully expect her to continue in this form on Friday against a fatigued Hailey Baptiste who will probably have little left in the tank after a marathon match against Burrage. There has been no shortage of upsets at this tournament this week, but I trust Osaka will play consistently and win in straight sets.