Naomi Osaka Makes Winning Comeback In Brisbane, Beats Korpatsch

Some 15 months away from tennis plus the birth of her daughter didn’t slow down Naomi Osaka.

The former No. 1 made a rousing return to tennis Monday in Brisbane knocking off Tamara Korpatsch 6-3, 7-6(9).

The 26-year-old lost a 5-3 break lead in the second but battled through in the breaker.

“I was super nervous, but I was really excited to be out there,” Osaka said after the win.

“I feel like the last couple of years that I played, before you know I had my daughter, I didn’t return as much love as I was given, so I really feel what I want to do in this chapter,” Osaka explained.

“I just really appreciate people coming out and people knowing me and cheering for me, because there was a time where I was just a little kid trying to watch my role models play, so it feels really surreal sometimes to be playing on these courts.”

Osaka will next face 3-time tournament champion Karolina Pliskova.

“I think my next match will be a really good test,” she said. “She’s such a tough opponent,” Osaka said of the No.16 seed. “She’s very different from the match that I played just now, so (I’m) very interested to see what happens.”

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