BRISBANE (Reuters) -Four-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka felt the nerves but looked solid on her return to elite tennis after 15 months out as she got past Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch 6-3 7-6(9) in the first round of the Brisbane International on Monday.
The 26-year-old from Japan last competed on tour at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in September 2022 and had her first child, daughter Shai, in July before stepping up her preparations for the Jan. 14-28 Australian Open.
Osaka displayed no signs of rust to break Korpatsch to love in her first game back and the former world number one turned up the heat again towards the end of the opening set to close it out in 38 minutes with a sizzling forehand winner.
Twice Melbourne Park champion Osaka dropped serve for a second time late in the next set to squander her advantage but continued her clean ball-striking in the fiercely contested tiebreak to secure the victory.
“I was super nervous playing the entire time but I was really excited to be out here. It feels really good to be back,” Osaka said after signing autographs and taking pictures with supporters courtside.
“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. So I really feel like that’s what I want to do in this chapter.”
Osaka previously had long spells out of the game since her second triumph at Melbourne Park, taking a break to prioritise her mental health after withdrawing from the 2021 French Open and another after the U.S. Open the same year.
She said it was a delight to feel the love from fans after her latest comeback.
“I just really appreciate people coming out and cheering for me, because I feel there was a time that I was just a little kid trying to watch my role models play,” Osaka added.
“So it feels really surreal sometimes to be playing on these courts.”
Up next is former world number one Karolina Pliskova, who received a bye into the second round.
“I’ve played her a couple of times,” Osaka told reporters later. “She’s such a tough opponent… very different from the match I played just now. Very interested to see what happens.”
In the men’s draw, Roman Safiullin stunned third seed Ben Shelton 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 under the roof at Pat Rafter Arena but persistent rain halted play on the outside courts and forced several matches to be cancelled.
Top seed Holger Rune survived a scare to beat Max Purcell 4-6 6-4 6-2 while former world number one Andy Murray went down 4-6 7-5 6-2 to second seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Rafa Nadal makes his singles comeback on Tuesday when he faces qualifier Dominic Thiem following Sunday’s doubles defeat after nearly a year out injured.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru;Editing by Kim Coghill and Neil Fullick)
