Naomi Osaka expressed being “super disappointed,” but thought-about her return to the courtroom on the Brisbane International a “personal win,” regardless of defending champion Karolina Pliskova placing an finish to her comeback on Wednesday.
Pliskova, who gained the event the final time it was held in 2020, bounced again from shedding the primary set to grind down the Japanese star 3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 within the second spherical.
World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka, in the meantime, thumped Italian Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 6-0 in a dominant show on Pat Rafter Arena.
“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,” mentioned Osaka.
“It’s form of powerful as a result of she has such an amazing serve – my break factors might have been higher, however I believe apart from that, we each performed rather 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 added.
“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.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion had not performed a event since September 2022, citing psychological well being considerations. She had a child daughter in July earlier than deciding to make a comeback.
After a formidable first-round win over Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch, Osaka began strongly in opposition to the Thirty ninth-ranked Pliskova, breaking the Czech’s opening service recreation.
Pliskova, a two-time Grand Slam finalist, leveled, however Osaka broke once more to take a 4-2 lead, then held on to financial institution the opening set.
The momentum started to shift within the second set because the tall Pliskova started to seek out the mark along with her serve.
She gained the second-set tiebreak, then bought an early break within the third, holding on with ease to take the match in 2 hours, 13 minutes.
Pliskova has gained the Brisbane International 3 times and mentioned she felt higher and higher because the match progressed.
“I thought I played quite well – there are a lot of things to improve, but it’s a good start,” mentioned Pliskova, including that after a first-round bye and never having performed since September, she wanted time to seek out her toes.
“You can practice as much as you want, but in matches, it’s always a little bit different,” she mentioned.
Reigning Australian Open champion Sabalenka was in imperious kind in opposition to Bronzetti, breaking the Italian as soon as within the first set and 3 times within the second.
“I’m super happy with the performance and I think I played a really great match,” mentioned Sabalenka, who gained 24 factors to Bronzetti’s 5 within the second set.
“I just hope I can keep this same level for each match, or even better.”
Source: www.dailysabah.com