Naomi Osaka puts nerves aside to launch WTA comeback with New Year's Day win in Brisbane

Unanswered forehand return. Unanswered backhand return. Crosscourt forehand winner. Unanswered forehand return.

That sequence of points is how four-time major champion Naomi Osaka officially launched her comeback on New Year’s Day at the Brisbane International.

Contesting her first match since September 2022, Osaka defeated 84th-ranked Tamara Korpatsch, 6-3, 7-6 (9), on Monday to book her first WTA win as a mother (she gave birth to daughter Shai last July during her tennis hiatus).

“I was super nervous playing the entire time. But I was really excited to be out here and it feels really good to be back,” Osaka told the crowd inside Pat Rafter Arena.

I feel like the last couple years I played, before I had my daughter, I didn’t return as much love as I was given. So I really feel like that’s what I want to do in this chapter.

Osaka’s harnessed her power beautifully to ride out the early love break in the opening set. Though Korpatsch hung tough and tried to redirect rallies, the former world No. 1 had a steady rhythm and relaxed vibe going on her side of the net. Laughing off miscues and keeping her body language positive, Osaka’s swinging—especially her forehand—did the rest of the work in closing out a one-set lead.

The wild card double-faulted to drop serve after the set break, but bounced right back with another assertive game against the German’s serve. Continuing to time the ball well, Osaka put the set on her racquet at 5-3. Unable to serve out the clash, the 26-year-old then fell behind 0-30 two games later. Osaka let out a notable "come on!" after bringing it back to 30-30 with a blazing forehand before holding. Korpatsch then safely recovered from her own 0-30 deficit to force a tiebreak.

From a mini break down, it was Korpatsch who switched sides with a 4-2 advantage after finishing a serve +1 with a backhand crosscourt winner. From there, the tension escaled.

An ace from Osaka brought her even two points later, but a misjudged backhand allowed her opponent to regain the mini break. Osaka then grabbed the next three points, before Korpatsch saved a match point at 5-6 with a well-timed backhand return up the line—and later a second on her serve at 6-7 when the Japanese star's inexperience at the net did her in. It was then Osaka's turn to erase a pair of set points at 7-8 and 8-9, the second with gutsy backhand striking.

On her third match point, Osaka shut the door at the 1:47 mark when she added one final forehand winner to her stat sheet. She then went over to sign autographs and snap selfies for a block of fans before commencing with her on-court interview.

“I feel like the last couple years I played, before I had my daughter, I didn’t return as much love as I was given. So I really feel like that’s what I want to do in this chapter,” she assessed. “I just really appreciate people coming out, people knowing me and cheering for me, because I feel like there was a time that I was just a little kid trying to watch my role models play.”

In the second round of the 500-level tournament, Osaka will meet No. 16 seed Karolina Pliskova in a rematch of their 2020 Brisbane semifinal won by the Czech. Osaka notably beat Pliskova in the semifinals of the 2019 Australian Open before going on to capture her first of two titles at Melbourne Park.