The smiles have said so much about Noami Osaka’s new outlook as she has made a successful return to the WTA Tour.
Osaka’s first tournament appearance in more than two years ended with a second-round defeat to 16th seed Karolina Pliskova at the Brisbane International, but this was a return that offered real hope for the four-time Grand Slam winner.
Following an opening-round win over Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch on Monday, Osaka looked to keep her momentum going against the Czech world No 39 but was ultimately outlasted 3-6 7-6 (4) 6-4.
In a battle of two former world No 1’s, Osaka exploded out of the gates to claim the first set before Pliskova began to find her footing in the second.
After surviving an early break point, Pliskova capitalised on her serve to take control of the match, going on to win 92 per cent of her first service points in the set.
Osaka continued to threaten throughout the final set, but was unable to make the most of her remaining opportunities in the narrow loss.
The Japanese star returned to the court on Monday for the first time since withdrawing from the Pan Pacific Trophy with a knee injury in September 2021 and she became a mother for the first time in July.
Yet throughout her time back on the court and, equally significantly, in her media duties, Osaka appears to have returned to tennis will a very differen mindset than the one she left with.
This is a player who pulled out of the French Open and Wimbledon back in 2021 after she attempted to avoid taking part in media activities, yet she has seemed relaxed and even appeared to be enjoying her exchanges with the press in Brisbane.
SOURCE:TOI
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