Naomi Osaka, the former world No 1, has made a triumphant return to professional tennis in the new season.
She secured a victory against Tamara Korpatsch from Germany with a score of 6-3 7-6 in the opening round of the Brisbane International tournament.
Osaka had not played since the Pan Pacific Trophy, having withdrawn from the game in September 2022 due to a knee injury.
She became a mother for the first time in July and her return to the court was highly anticipated by her fans.
The four-time grand slam champion returned to the court in style, breaking Korpatsch to love in the first game and did not face a break point as she clinched the first set in 39 minutes.
Osaka looked set for a routine victory when she broke for a 5-3 lead in the second set, but Korpatsch fought back to take it into a tiebreak.
Nevertheless, Osaka managed to win 11-9 on her third match point.
Following the game, Osaka expressed her appreciation for the support she received from her fans, saying,
“The last couple of years that I played before I had my daughter, I didn’t return as much love as I was given. I feel like that’s what I want to do in this chapter. I just really appreciate people coming out and knowing me and cheering for me because I feel like there was a time when I was just a little kid trying to watch my role models play. So it feels really surreal sometimes to be playing on these courts. I was super nervous the whole time.”
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In the second round of the tournament, the former US Open and Australian Open champion will face Karolina Pliskova, a former world No. 1 and three-time champion in Brisbane.
The match is sure to be exciting, with both players vying for the win.
Persistent rain meant that matches on outside courts were suspended, and all the games were confined to the covered main stadium.
In the men’s draw, third-seeded Ben Shelton, who reached the US Open semi-finals last year, was beaten 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-3 by Roman Safiullin.
Despite being ranked 39th, Safiullin had won against Carlos Alcaraz and Alexander Zverev last year, making him a formidable opponent.
