Naomi Osaka’s Australian Open comeback ended in failure by an early defeat

Naomi Osaka's Australian Open comeback ended in failure by an early defeat
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Naomi Osaka lost to Caroline Garcia 6-4 7-6 (2) on Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open on Monday, returning to Grand Slam tennis the same way she had left it, after taking maternity leave.

The two-time Australian Open champion, who hasn’t played in a tournament since 15 months ago, knew he would be up against a formidable opponent in the form of the seasoned French 16th seed, who plays aggressive baseline tennis like Osaka.

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The power that took Osaka to the four Grand Slam titles prior to her taking time off to have daughter Shai remained there, but it was going to continue to take Osaka, 26, time to discover her accuracy in clutch moments.

In the fifth game, Garcia, 30, received his first break point of the match after a double fault, which he quickly converted to take the lead.

Osaka had a sniff of a break back at deuce in the 8th game but dumped a routine backhand into the net. Garcia took the set after holding with consecutive aces.

Osaka was unable to apply any pressure to Garcia’s excellent serving in the second set, as the Japanese former world No. 1 won the first of her three service games to love.

Osaka had defeated Garcia 6-2, 6-3 at Melbourne Park en route to her victory in 2021. However, the match was far closer, with a tiebreaker being used to decide the second set.

Garcia maintained her excellent serve-receiving form, quickly building a lead and winning the match on her first match point when Osaka threw another backhand into the net.

At a press conference following the match, Osaka stated, “Obviously, the competitive side of me is frustrated that I’m not winning these matches.” “So I would not say, like, this comeback was what I thought because I’m delusional sufficient to think I could have won the tournament.”

At that point, she grinned and said, “I think my delusion is what lets me win the tournaments.”

“I have a lot of admiration for Naomi as a person and as an athlete — 15 months she’s been away,” Garcia stated. “Her return makes me very happy. She gave birth six months ago, and she is already playing quite well. We must exercise caution.”

Osaka joined 2016 winner Angelique Kerber as well as 2018 champion Caroline Wozniacki as the three former Australian Open champions who made their Melbourne Park debuts as mothers.

Osaka lost in the first round of a Grand Slam for the third time in a row after falling at the first hurdle at the US and French Opens in 2022. It was also her earliest exit in eight trips to the Australian Open.

After those matches, she took a break from tennis for her health. For now, she has no plans to take any more pauses.

“Yeah, I think I am just going to keep living day by day while training hard and playing a lot more matches,” she replied. “And hopefully my dreams will come true.”

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