Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka was rusty on her return to action for the first time in four months yesterday but still advanced to the second round of the Melbourne Summer Set tournament with a 6-4 3-6 6-3 win over Alize Cornet.
Osaka, who last played competitively when she lost to Leylah Fernandez in the third round of the U.S. Open in September, displayed plenty of her trademark power but often lacked accuracy at the Australian Open warm-up event.
The Japanese player struggled with her first serve while committing 57 unforced errors, including eight double faults, as she eventually saw off the former world number 11.
"I feel like I probably made a lot of unforced errors today but I kind of expected that because it is the first match," said Osaka. "I was really nervous so I'm just glad that I was able to hold my serve on the last game."
The match was the first since Osaka announced she was taking an indefinite break from tennis following her loss to Fernandez at Flushing Meadows.
That decision brought an end to a season that had also seen her withdraw from the French Open citing mental health issues and miss Wimbledon during a mid-season hiatus.
Photo file Caption: Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka