WELLINGTON, New Zealand — 4-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka made a successful return to the courtroom after an nearly three-month absence Monday within the first spherical of the ASB tennis basic in Auckland.
Osaka beat qualifier Lina Glushko 6-4, 6-4 in a good contest in her first match since October when a again harm on the China Open ended her 2024 season.
All of the hallmarks of Osaka’s sport have been current Monday: the highly effective serve, forceful groundstrokes notably from the forehand aspect and the aggression. She seemed relaxed and cozy on the courtroom with no signal of her current harm.
“I had no concept what the rating was more often than not,” Osaka mentioned. “I simply saved attempting to inform myself one level at a time and attempting to not get discouraged.
“Fortunately, it got here out in my favor in the long run.”
Osaka was supported at courtside by her new coach Patrick Mouratoglou, who had a long-term affiliation with Serena Williams.
She broke Glushko within the third sport of the primary set and held comfortably to win 6-4.
The second set was tighter. Osaka broke Glushko within the third sport however Glushko transformed her solely break level of the match to stage at 2-2.
Glushko held to like within the seventh sport to guide 4-3, however Osaka appeared to step up at that time, held with two aces for 4-4, broke for 5-4 and held serve to like to clinch the win.
Her serve was strong all through. She completed with seven aces and received 74% of first-serve factors. Her first serve averaged round 111 mph and her slice round 87 mph.
“I believe she’s a extremely superb opponent. I’ve by no means performed her earlier than,” Osaka mentioned. “It was good to need to scrap a bit for the primary spherical.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
