MELBOURNE: After taking a maternity hiatus, Naomi Osaka returned to Grand Slam tennis the same manner she had left it, losing to Caroline Garcia 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) in the first round of the Australian Open on Monday, January 15.
As Osaka is an aggressive baseliner, facing the seasoned French 16th seed was always going to be difficult for the twice Australian Open champion, who just returned to competition tennis two weeks ago after a 15-month break.
It was always going to take Osaka, 26, some time to recover her precision in crucial situations, but she still possessed the strength that helped her win four Grand Slam titles prior to taking a break to give birth to her daughter Shai.
A double fault gave Garcia the first break point of the match in the fifth game and the 30-year-old former world number four converted it with alacrity to edge ahead at the Rod Laver Arena.
In the eighth game, Osaka had a chance to break back at deuce, but she threw a straightforward backhand into the net, and Garcia held with back-to-back aces to win the set.
Osaka was unable to put any pressure on Garcia’s excellent serving in the second set, as the Japanese former world number one won her first three service games to love.
