WELLINGTON, New Zealand — 4-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka made a profitable return to the court docket after an virtually three-month absence Monday within the first spherical of the ASB tennis traditional in Auckland.
Osaka beat qualifier Lina Glushko 6-4, 6-4 in a good contest in her first match since October when a again damage on the China Open ended her 2024 season.
All of the hallmarks of Osaka’s recreation have been current Monday: the highly effective serve, forceful groundstrokes notably from the forehand facet and the aggression. She regarded relaxed and cozy on the court docket with no signal of her current damage.
“I had no concept what the rating was more often than not,” Osaka stated. “I simply saved making an attempt to inform myself one level at a time and making an attempt to not get discouraged.
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“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 recreation of the primary set and held comfortably to win 6-4.
The second set was tighter. Osaka broke Glushko within the third recreation however Glushko transformed her solely break level of the match to degree at 2-2.
Glushko held to like within the seventh recreation to steer 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 feel she’s a very superb opponent. I’ve by no means performed her earlier than,” Osaka stated. “It was good to need to scrap a little bit for the primary spherical.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
