Naomi Osaka on Monday did not look her usual self as she made a comeback in Grand Slams with Australian Open after 15 months. The Japanese player gave birth to her baby daughter in July last year, and was since prepping for the comeback. However, the return turned sour as Osaka lost on straight sets 4-6 6-7 (2-7) to Caroline Garcia in the first round. Osaka after the match did not make much of the defeat, saying she just enjoyed playing at the Rod Lever Arena again.
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Osaka started the match slowly, as Garcia appeared the more determined of the two. The French player had a fantastic game, hitting 13 aces and not providing a single break-point to Osaka. Osaka was at times a bit slow to react to Garcia’s accurate first serves. However, she said she expected a tough match after returning to competitive tennis for so long.
“I felt like I did the best that I could possibly do. It was just really nice to be on Rod Laver again, hear the audience, how much they interacted with the match,” Osaka said after the defeat.
“I have to tell myself, ‘Hey, like six months ago you were pregnant,’ stuff like that. Of course, there’s a voice in my head that is, ‘Who are you to think you can come back and immediately start winning matches?'” Osaka added.
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