Naomi Osaka is back on the tennis court. Osaka gave her last appearance on September 2022, taking a break to prioritize her mental health and grow her family, having a daughter in July of last year. Osaka made her comeback in Brisbane, winning her first match against Tamara Korpatsch, yet losing her second, against Karolina Pilskova. Despite the loss, Osaka called her return a “personal win.”

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Osaka played two matches at Brisbane International, which has also seen the awaited return of Rafael Nadal. Osaka won the first set against Pliskova, but ultimately lost the match. “Even though it’s super disappointing today, I know that if I keep training and if I keep putting in the work, then I’ll eventually get to where I want to be,” said Osaka after the match.

She continued by praising Pliskova and her skills. “It’s kind of tough because she has such a great serve — my break points could have been better, but I think other than that, we both played really well.”

“Even stepping on the court is a personal win, because a couple of weeks ago I was even doubting if I could play with everyone,” she said. “So I guess these two matches that I’ve had kind of prove to me that I am doing okay, and the year is just going to get better for me.”

Rafael Nadal’s tennis comeback

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Another athlete that has fans excited is Rafael Nadal, who won his second match in Brisbane. Earlier this week, he beat Dominic Thiem and then defeated Jason Kubler, earning a spot at the tournament’s quarter-finals.

“I think I started the match playing very well, with a very good determination,” said Nadal after the match. “I saw videos of Jason before the match and I saw him playing very solidly from the baseline, so I came on court and tried to be aggressive with my shots from the baseline. It worked very well. I think it was a very positive match for me and the chance to play again tomorrow means a lot to me. Two victories after a long time being outside of the professional Tour is something that makes me feel good.”