US Open champion, Naomi Osaka expands her winning streak to 13 matches but only after withstanding a stiff provocation from Katie Boulter to beat the Briton 3-6 6-3 6-1, and reach the quarter-finals of the Gippsland Trophy; Johanna Konta falls to Irina-Camelia Begu as Dan Evans opens with a win.

Britain’s Katie Boulter gave a substantial account of her but could not stop Naomi Osaka from expanding her winning streak to 13 matches at the Gippsland Trophy on Wednesday. Boulter beat teenage American Coco Gauff in the second round of the Australian Open exercise and another upset looked on the cards when she matched her Japanese opponent’s power-hitting to take the opening set at Margaret Court Arena.

The second-seeded Osaka, who won the Australian Open in 2019, raced to a 3-0 lead in the second set but the 24-year-old Briton would not fold and had break points of her own. Although, Osaka upped her return game considerably to wrestle back the momentum and level up the match before running away with the third set and sealing a 3-6 6-3 6-1 win.