Naomi Osaka has produced an impressive performance in an emotional return to the court, cruising to a straight-sets victory over Tamara Korpatsch at the Brisbane International.
The four-time grand slam champion hadn't played since mid-2022 and gave birth to her daughter Shai last July, and is now preparing to push for a third Australian Open title later this month.
Before her match on Monday, the popular former world No.1 was spotted taking photos and signing autographs for fans, before sending an early message to her rivals with a 6-3, 7-6 victory.
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Speaking on the Nine broadcast post-match, Osaka opened up on her journey back to the tour and her change in perspective since welcoming her first child.
"It feels really good," she said.
"I feel like 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 really feel like that's what I want to do in this chapter.
"I just really appreciate people coming out and people knowing me and cheering for me because I feel like there was a time that I was just a little kid trying to watch my role models play.
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"It feels really surreal sometimes to be playing on these courts."
Osaka clinched the first set against Korpatsch rather convincingly, but the second set ended in a lengthy tiebreaker, before the Japanese star finally overcame her German opponent.
The 26-year-old was also asked in her post-match interview what she would prefer to do – to close out a match or put Shai to sleep.
"Normally I would say close out the match, but it was kind of tough for me today," Osaka said.
"But Shai likes to fight her sleep, so I would say preferably playing tennis over changing diapers and anything like that."
Osaka is scheduled to play her second-round match in Brisbane against Karolína Plíšková on Tuesday.
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