Returning Osaka falls at first hurdle at Australian Open

Naomi Osaka was disappointed to be knocked out of the Australian Open in the first round on her Grand Slam return on Monday, but she believed she was making rapid progress after 15 months away from the game.

The Japanese former world number one, who took a break to have daughter Shai, lost 6-4 7-6(2) to French 16th seed Caroline Garcia on the Rod Laver Arena court, where she won two of her four Grand Slam titles.

"I thought it was a really good match. For me, I felt like I did the best that I could possibly do," she told reporters.

"I think I still feel like a bit disappointed ... I did feel nervous, but I felt like I kept telling myself to be positive. I thought I kept doing better as the match went on.

"So, yeah, I'm not too happy right now, but I think I can learn from the progress."

Taking on the experienced Garcia was always going to be a difficult task for Osaka, who had only played two matches in Brisbane since returning to tournament tennis two weeks prior.

In the fifth game, Garcia earned the first break point of the match via a double fault from Osaka, which she converted to take the lead.

Osaka had a break point at deuce in the eighth game, but she dumped a routine backhand into the net, and Garcia held with back-to-back aces to take the set.

Osaka, a two-time U.S. Open champion, won her first three service games of the second set to love, but Garcia served so well that Osaka was unable to apply pressure with her returns.

"I felt like I was constantly on my back foot and really hesitant," Osaka added.

"I was a little bit overthinking in my head where to go. I think that's something that will come in time, but right now it kind of sucks a little."

Garcia, who raced through the second-set tiebreak to advance to the second round, said she was confident Osaka would return to the top of the game soon.

"She has had an amazing career, she has been away for 15 months and been through a lot," the 30-year-old said.

"Six months after giving birth and she's playing amazing, so we have to watch out."

It was Osaka's earliest exit in eight Australian Open appearances, as well as her third consecutive loss in the first round of a Grand Slam, following defeats at the French and US Opens in 2022.

The 26-year-old was clearly struggling to reconcile her disappointment at the loss with the fact that she was so competitive after such a long absence from the sport.

"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 said.

"I don't know. I kind of always expect myself to stand a chance anyways."

SportsLigue