Wasteful Osaka dumped out of Brisbane International

George Clarke | January 3, 2024

Naomi Osaka is remaining philosophical after her return to tennis was cut short in a second-round defeat to Karolina Pliskova at the Brisbane International.

Former world No.1 Pliskova advanced to the last 16 along with reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, who sent a reminder of her starpower in a 6-3 6-0 demolition of Lucia Bronzetti.

Osaka, however, will be left to go back to the drawing board after going down 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 to Czechia’s “defending champion” Pliskova, who lifted the last tournament in Brisbane in 2020.

Four-time grand slam champion Osaka had breezed through her tournament opener against Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch on Monday, in what was her first tour match in over a year after returning from giving birth to her first child.

But Pliskova gave the Japanese superstar a sense of the tougher challenges that lay ahead on the comeback trail.

Osaka looked good value when she took the first set in 37 minutes but Pliskova was able to swing the second in her favour and then eke out victory after getting a break early in the third. 

“The week is definitely shorter than I wanted it to be, but overall I think it was a great match,” Osaka said

“I feel like I’m pretty good where I am right now. Even the last time I played her, I think I played better today. 

“I think I’m pretty good. Like, the court is just really… It’s her court, you know what I mean? I guess I’ll see what happens in Melbourne.” 

If there was one silver lining in defeat it was the fact that Osaka’s service game looked back to its best, the two-time Australian Open champion raining down 14 aces.

Her Achilles heel, however, was clearly her ability to convert breakpoints, completing just two of a possible 12 across the three sets. 

“My break points could have been better,” Osaka said.

“But I think other than that, we both played really well. It’s kind of tough because she has such a great serve.

“I’m not really sure if I can be too hard on myself, if that makes sense.”

The loss was Osaka’s first since becoming a mother last July and the 26-year-old admitted to feeling a touch of sadness for not winning for daughter Shai.

“I do feel different,” Osaka said.

“I mean, of course I feel sad, but the sadness is me being, like, ‘Aww, I wish I could have done better’ because I know I’m spending so much time away from her, so I want it to be worth it somehow.

“Also, I feel like it fuelled me a lot to do better. I think I did do really well this match. It does sting a little bit less because I know that I literally gave everything that I could.

“Yeah, it’s like a two-way type of thing.”

 Pliskova will face either Jelena Ostapenko or Camila Giorgi in the third round while Sabalenka will meet the winner of the tie between Lin Zhu and Danielle Collins.

Australia’s Daria Saville showed some resistance against Anastasia Potapova earlier on Wednesday, forcing the Russian to a third set before falling to a 6-4 6-3 6-4 loss.

Meanwhile, rising Queenslander Olivia Gadecki is in action in the evening session, aiming to take down Kazakhstan’s world No.3 Elena Rybakina.