Karolina Pliskova gave Naomi Osaka a reality check on her return to tournament tennis by rallying for a 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4 victory in a high quality second-round clash at the Brisbane International on Wednesday.
Osaka had eased through her first tour match in 15 months on Monday after taking time out of the game to have a child but former world number one Pliskova proved an altogether tougher prospect.
The contest started well for four-times Grand Slam champion Osaka after she banged down five aces to lock up the opening set in 37 minutes against her rusty-looking opponent, who had received a bye through the first round.
Pliskova found her rhythm in the second set, however, and although Osaka’s rock solid serve repeatedly got her out of trouble until the tiebreak, she was unable to prevent the Czech from levelling up the contest.
An early break allowed Pliskova to get her nose in front in the deciding set and she saved three break points in the next game to retain her advantage over her 26-year-old rival.
That was as close as Osaka got and Pliskova showed the quality of her own serve to ease into the third round and a clash with Camila Giorgi or third seed Jelena Ostapenko.
“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.
“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 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.”
“I thought I played quite well — there are a lot of things to improve but it’s a good start,” said Pliskova, who won the Brisbane title in 2017, 2019 and 2020, said in an on-court interview, adding that after a first-round bye and having not played since September, she needed time to find her feet.
“You can practise as much as you want but in matches it’s always a little bit different,” she said.
“It’s been a long break but I’ve been doing this sport for many, many years.
“I’ve been training for a couple of months and I think I’m in pretty good shape.”
Osaka will take plenty of positives out of the contest, not least the 14 aces she pounded down, as she looks ahead to her return to the Grand Slam arena at the Australian Open, a tournament she won in 2019 and 2021.
Reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka plays her first WTA tour match of the year against Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti in later action in Brisbane on Wednesday.
(With inputs from Agencies)
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