Naomi Osaka gets off to winning start at Australian Open | The Japan Times

Melbourne – Defending champion Naomi Osaka overcame an unexpectedly stiff challenge from Colombian Camila Osorio to reach the second round of the Australian Open with a 6-3, 6-3 victory at Rod Laver Arena on Monday.

The Japanese former world No. 1 was all business as she raced out to a 5-0 lead in the opening set.

Osorio, however, was invigorated after holding serve for the first time and began chasing down everything Osaka threw at her.

Osaka needed to save two break points to hold serve for the first set and faced two more in the second before overpowering the inexperienced Osorio, who is No. 50 in the world rankings, with her aggressive shots from the baseline.

"It always feels special to come back here," said Osaka, who is the No. 13 seed and will face either Dayana Yastremska or Madison Brengle as she seeks her third title at Melbourne Park after wins in 2019 and 2021.

"I thought she played amazing. Overall I'm just happy to be here, I'm happy to see everybody in the audience and I hope we gave you a great performance.

Osaka beat American Jennifer Brady in last year's final, but then withdrew from the French Open and Wimbledon over mental health issues.

She said her problems were exacerbated by speaking to the media after matches. She later made an early exit at the U.S. Open in September.

But in the build-up to the opening Grand Slam of the year, the 24-year-old said she was now determined to put her issues behind her and have fun.

"I just need to find a way to enjoy the game again because that's the reason why I was playing in the first place," she said ahead of the tournament.

In other matches, No. 5 seed Maria Sakkari battled past Germany's Tatjana Maria 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) to kick start her Australian Open as she looks to build on a breakout season last year.

The Greek 26-year-old made the semifinals at the U.S. Open and French Open in 2021 and is seeded in the top 10 of a Grand Slam for the first time at Melbourne Park.

She needed time to get settled in at Rod Laver Arena, but soon found her groove to break Maria for a 5-4 lead and serve out the opening set in 44 minutes.

The 287th-ranked German refused to give up and made Sakkari work hard, taking the match to a tiebreaker before her resistance was broken.

"We all know how hard first rounds can be and that wasn't easy," said the athletic Sakkari, who also made the semifinals of the season-ending WTA Finals last year.