Naomi Osaka made a triumphant return to tennis after taking an extended break to give birth to her first child. The four-time Major winner defeated Tamara Korpatsch 6-3 7-6(11) in her first match in 15 months at the Brisbane International. It came days after Osaka admitted that she previously considered stopping tennis and opting not to return when she lost all “joy” for the sport.
Osaka was back in action for the first time since September 2022, when she won a match via retirement at the Tokyo WTA 500 before pulling out of the tournament. The former world No 1 then ended her season and announced at the beginning of 2023 that she was expecting her first child but planned to return in 2024.
It was the dream comeback for the 26-year-old, who needed an hour and 48 minutes to beat world No 83 Korpatsch. Osaka showed no signs of rust as she fired down five aces and 36 total winners to set up a clash with Karolina Pliskova in the second round.
But it could have been a different story for the seven-time title winner, who previously thought she would never return to tennis. “I would say right after Tokyo for, like, a month maybe I was thinking about it because I felt like all my joy went away for the sport,” Osaka said ahead of the Brisbane International.
Click here to join our WhatsApp community to be the first to receive breaking and exclusive tennis news.
“I felt like it kind of wasn’t fair, both for the people watching and myself.” The birth of her daughter Shai gave Osaka a whole new perspective, however, as she explained: “But then I thought, like, I’ve played tennis since I was 3, and there’s so many more things that I want to do.
“Especially with Shai, I want her to see, like, someone that has big goals and dreams. I think that’s really important to have really good role models. Also, just learning how to appreciate the sport. I think in the time I had away, I appreciated the sport a lot more. After giving birth, I understood how physical and how much work it takes to get there.”
The former world No 1 was encouraged by her performance against Korpatsch on Monday, happy to have a test instead of a straightforward victory. “Honestly, I would prefer what I played. I think maybe some of my decisions weren’t the best. But I think it’s better to have harder matches because it will train me for what’s to come,” she said.
“I know all the opponents I play aren’t easy anyway, so it would be I don’t want to say crazy, but very out there for me to think my first match would be a 6-1, 6-1.” Osaka will now renew her rivalry with a fellow former No 1 in Pliskova. The pair have faced off on five occasions with the Czech star leading their head-to-head with three wins. Their last meeting also came at the Brisbane International back in 2020 where Pliskova came through 6-7(10) 7-6(3) 6-2 en route to the title.
Assessing her performance and her upcoming test against the 31-year-old, Osaka continued: “I feel like I played at a pretty good level. I think my opponent played really well, as well. Honestly, all I can think of is, like, the consistent nerves that I had.
“So just getting through that really tough match and hopefully building on it. I think my next match will be a really good test on that. Wim [Fissette, her coach] told me who I was playing. I don’t know why he did that, like, before my first match. Yeah, I’ve played her a couple of times. She’s such a tough opponent. She’s very different from the match that I played just now, so… Very interested to see what happens.”
