Naomi Osaka says she was troubled by nerves during her first match in four months at the Melbourne Summer Set on Tuesday.
The four-time Grand Slam champion defeated Alize Cornet 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, in what was a lacklustre performance from the Japanese player who last played a match at the US Open in September. Inevitably there were signs of rust from Osaka who committed a total of 57 unforced errors against 51 winners. Furthermore, she only managed to get 38% of her first serves in and committed eight double faults.
“It always feels really good to come back here,” Osaka said during her on-court interview. “It feels really nice to play in front of people.”
Osaka is hoping to come back stronger after what was a turbulent 2021 season where she struggled with personal issues. Last year she withdrew from both the French Open and Wimbledon due to her mental health. Then she took another break from the Tour following her third round defeat to Leyleh Fernandez at the US Open.
Now back to business, the 24-year-old is drawing positives from her match against Cornet despite its blips. At one stage she led by a set and 3-1 before losing six games in a row. Nevertheless, she managed to come back in the decider by scoring an early break which was enough of a margin to help her secure victory.
“I feel like I made a lot of unforced errors, but I kind of expected that because it is my first match and I was really nervous,” she said.
“I’m just so glad I was able to hold my serve in that last game.”
Osaka is the top seed in this week’s Melbourne Summer Set 1. It marks the start of her build up to the Australian Open where she will be bidding to win the title for a second time in a row and the third overall. The last woman to defend a title at the Australian Open was Victoria Azarenka back in 2013.
As for her next match, the Japanese player will take on Belgian world No.82 Maryna Zanevska who defeated Petra Martic 6-3, 6-4. It will be the first ever Tour meeting between the two players.
