ROME — Last week, Naomi Osaka did something she hadn’t done for 10 years. She dropped down to a WTA 125 tournament — the level just beneath the main tour — in Saint-Malo, France. And it paid off: Osaka came away with the L’Open 35 de Saint-Malo trophy, the first clay-court title of her career at any level.
It’s continuing to pay off at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where Osaka opened her account with a 6-2, 6-3 win over wild card Sara Errani. She struck 40 winners in total, frequently finding breathtaking angles with her backhand, to overcome the clay-court wiles of the 38-year-old Italian. That’s a six-match winning streak now, on a surface Osaka has long regarded with suspicion. She will next…