Naomi Osaka's Stunning Comeback in the Grand Slam, Reaching the Third Round for the First Time in Years

Naomi Osaka's Stunning Comeback in the Grand Slam, Reaching the Third Round for the First Time in Years

Melbourne, Australia – Naomi Osaka's second-round match at the Australian Open started in the worst possible way. Within just 21 minutes, she sailed a forehand service return well over the baseline and found herself trailing 5-0.

Osaka walked to the sideline, sat down, and draped a white towel over her head, blocking out all sights and leaving her with just her thoughts. She remained in this position throughout the break between games, even managing to drink water from a bottle under the towel.

This wasn’t a match against an unknown opponent, but against 20th-seeded Karolina Muchova, the runner-up at the 2023 French Open and a semifinalist at the 2021 Melbourne Park. Muchova had defeated Osaka in their two most recent encounters. However, Osaka quickly put that disappointing start behind her and made a stunning comeback, winning 1-6, 6-1, 6-3.

Osaka explained, “I tried not to get too negative on myself. The score in the first set was very dramatic, but there were key points where maybe I could have won a game here or there."

This victory marked a significant moment for Osaka, who once dominated women’s tennis, winning four Grand Slam titles and achieving the No. 1 ranking in the WTA standings. The win allowed her to reach the third round of a Grand Slam for the first time since 2022.

Reaching this stage was not considered a big deal for her at one point, but time off for mental health reasons and the birth of her daughter, Shai, in July 2023, changed things.

Since returning to competition last year, Osaka has shown signs of regaining her form, including a memorable narrow loss to then-No. 1 Iga Swiatek at the French Open. This win, following her victory over 2022 U.S. Open semifinalist Caroline Garcia in Melbourne, confirms her progress is real.

Osaka said, “It was definitely a goal of mine, especially after last year, when I couldn’t defeat a seeded player at a Grand Slam. I’m very thankful that it happened so early this year.”

She also joked about gaining "revenge" by defeating Garcia—who had knocked Osaka out of Melbourne the previous year—and Muchova in consecutive matches.

Next up for Osaka is a match against Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Belinda Bencic, who is also a mother; her daughter Bella was born last year. Both are big hitters.

Meanwhile, in Melbourne on Wednesday, the highest-seeded player to exit was China’s Zheng Qinwen, the 2024 Australian Open runner-up and gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Games. Zheng lost focus after being called for a time violation and was unable to respond to Laura Siegemund’s strokes, losing 7-6(3), 6-3.

In the men’s division, Novak Djokovic added to his record by playing his 430th career Grand Slam match—surpassing Roger Federer—and moved into the third round with a 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-2 win.

Other men’s winners included Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Yoshihito Nishioka 6-0, 6-1, 6-4 with 14 aces, and many others advanced to the third round.