Japan’s tennis star Naomi Osaka made a successful comeback on New Year’s Day after a 15-month maternity leave. The 26-year-old won her first round match at the WTA tournament in Brisbane, Australia, against Tamara Korpatsch from Kaltenkirchen 6:3 7:6 (11:9).
However, the former world number one needed 2:48 hours for her well-deserved victory. “It feels really good to be back,” said the four-time Grand Slam tournament winner afterwards: “To be honest, I’m very proud of myself. I think I played at a pretty good level. My opponent also played very well.”
In the second round, Osaka will face the Czech number 16 seed Karolina Pliskova, who had a bye at the start. The hard-court event, which has prize money of around 1.7 million US dollars, is regarded as a preparation tournament for the Australian Open from January 14 to 28.
Osaka reported in July that she had become a mother. She had not played a match on the professional tour since September 2022 until her comeback. Two years ago, she had reported depression and anxiety and later took an extended break to protect her mental health