Naomi Osaka’s return at Australian Open

After a tumultuous year and a four-month layoff during which she questioned what she wanted from tennis, Osaka is back on the court. “I’m not sure if this is going to work out well.”

Naomi Osaka says her main aims are to ‘have fun’ and ‘never cry in the pressroom again’ after she made a winning return ahead of the Australian Open. 

Playing her first match in four months, Osaka beat Alize Cornet 6-4 3-6 6-3 in the first round of the Australian Open warm-up tournament.

The four-time Grand Slam winner, the reigning Australian Open champion, took a break from playing after losing to Leylah Fernandez in the third round of September’s US Open.

“I only really have one major goal this year, and it’s completely unrelated to results and stuff like that,” Osaka said following victory.

“For me, I just want to feel like every time I step on the court I’m having fun. I can walk off the court knowing that even if I lost, I tried as hard as I could.”