Naomi Osaka lost to Caroline Garcia in the opening round of the Australian Open, marking the end of her comeback to major slam tennis.
A competitor in her first grand slam event in over a year, Osaka lost to Garcia 6-4 7-6(7-2) on Monday. Osaka was the two-time Melbourne champion.
Before becoming a mother for the first time in July, the Japanese tennis player took a 15-month hiatus to focus on her mental health.
She gave it her all in a close match at Rod Laver Arena against the 16th-seeded Garcia, but she fell down in the opening set when the Frenchwoman broke the tie at 2-2, the only break of the match.
A tie-break followed a tight second set, in which Garcia broke free and ended the match when Osaka’s cross-court backhand hit the net.
Garcia attempts a backhand move on Osaka.
After the match, Osaka told reporters, “I felt like I did the best that I could possibly do.” “To be back on Rod Laver and hear the audience’s interaction with the match was just really nice.”
Osaka’s ranking had fallen during her hiatus from the game, so all of the seeded players at the Australian Open would have been trying their hardest to avoid her in the first round.
However, the 30-year-old Garcia outperformed the four-time grand slam champion, hitting 34 wins and 13 aces, including two in the second-set tie-break.
In the second round, she will now play Polish competitor Magdalena Fręch, who is ranked unseeded.
Since the US Open in 2022, Osaka had not participated in a grand slam before.
Osaka triumphed over Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch to commence her tennis career ahead of the Australian Open. In the Brisbane International tournament’s second round, she was defeated in three sets by Czech tennis player Karolína Plíšková.
Osaka remarked, “I think I’ve learned a lot on and off the court during this trip.” I believe I recently played some extremely excellent people as well. It’s a little disappointing. I guess I just need to wait and see how the remainder of my season plays out.
