MIAMI, FL, USA -- No.4 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine eased into the third round of the Miami Open on Friday with a clinical 6-4, 6-2 victory over the hottest player on the WTA, Japan’s Naomi Osaka.

"I always knew that [Osaka] can produce a great game," Svitolina said, during her post-match press conference. "All the times we played, we played quite a bit now. I knew that I have to be always on my toes, have to be ready for her strong shots, for her strong serve."

"I was just trying to [not] give her any opportunities," continued Svitolina. "I think I was playing pretty solid today, serving good. This was the key for today. Making it physical, as well."

Osaka came into this match on an eight-match winning streak, having claimed the first title of her career at the BNP Paribas Open last week and following that up with a first-round win in Miami over Serena Williams.

But it was Svitolina who took a 3-2 lead in the head-to-head record against Osaka after Friday's 83-minute win. The World No.4 was the last player to defeat Osaka before her run started, having beaten the 20-year-old Japanese player at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships one month ago.

Osaka was struggling with nausea in the morning prior to this match, but completed a valiant effort to play it out. "I don't think it would be right to just not play, especially after if I play someone like Serena, then you just don't play the next match," Osaka told the media after the match. "I think that's wrong, so... I tried to play."

It was an excellent day at the service line for Svitolina, who won nearly 80 percent of points on her first serve, saved five of six break points, and out-aced Osaka by five to two. Osaka, meanwhile, could not quite get clicking on her serve, winning only 37 percent of her second service points and being broken four times.

"Of course, she served some good serves, aces, because it's her game," Svitolina said of Osaka. "She does it very good. That's why I had to accept sometimes and just move on. In the end, I know I was on the ball most of the time, was seeing the ball pretty good today."

Strong returning by Svitolina propelled her to the first lead of the match, breaking Osaka for a 2-1 lead as the Japanese player initially struggled to keep her forehand in play. But Osaka quickly struck back for 2-2 behind a scorching backhand service return down the line for a winner.

The players utilized every inch of the court as the set progressed, with the power game of Osaka trying to break through the sturdy defenses of the speedy Svitolina. The Ukrainian once again eked out a lead at 3-3, claiming the break when Osaka hit a backhand error wide.

Four games later, Osaka had a chance to level the set at 5-5, claiming a break point with a backhand winner, but an unforced error off of that side pulled her back to deuce. After one set point then went begging, Svitolina hit a lovely serve to bring up a second chance, and another deep serve led to a forehand winner just on the sideline to take the opener.

A lengthy 15-point game on Osaka's service opened the second set, and once Svitolina broke, the wind seemed to go out of Osaka's sails. Svitolina held at love twice and broke Osaka once more en route to a 4-0 lead, as the Japanese player sporadically leaned against the back wall of the court in dismay.

Osaka eventually got on the board, holding for 4-1 with an ace, but Svitolina took the next game with an ace of her own, putting the Ukrainian one game from moving into the third round in Miami for the fourth time in her career.

Osaka made one final surge to get into the match. The newly minted World No.22 saved two match points before holding for 5-2, and then put real pressure on Svitolina in the next game, nudging Svitolina into errors and holding three break points. But the Ukrainian steeled herself and saved all three, and was able to close out the match in that game when an Osaka service return went long.