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Naomi Osaka is all set for a return to tennis as she is the latest player to arrive in Melbourne. Osaka is the defending champion at the Australian Open, where she won her fourth Grand Slam title this year.

The Japanese star had earlier posted about her excitement at returning to Australia.

"High key doesn't feel real to be going back to Australia lol" - Osaka captioned one of her Instagram stories.Naomi Osaka's Instagram stories
Naomi Osaka's Instagram stories
The official Australian Open Twitter account also welcomed her, along with other arrivals Alison Riske and Mackenzie McDonald.

"Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Melbourne where the local time is time for #AO2022 #AusOpen #AOStars #welcome"
#AusOpen
#AusOpen
@AustralianOpen
"Ladies and gentleman, welcome to Melbourne where the local time is time for #AO2022"

#AusOpen • #AOStars • #welcome
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Earlier this year, Osaka had arrived at the Australian Open as the player to beat. She had just won her third Grand Slam title at the 2020 US Open. Additionally, she hadn't lost a match since the tour resumed after being suspended for a few months due to the pandemic.

On the way to her fourth Grand Slam title in Melbourne, Osaka saved two match points against Garbine Muguruza in their fourth-round match. She then defeated 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams in the semifinals and Jennifer Brady in the final.

Naomi Osaka will be raring to go after a difficult yearNaomi Osaka arrives in Melbourne
Naomi Osaka arrives in Melbourne
Following her triumph at the 2021 Australian Open, the remainder of Naomi Osaka's season was difficult as she struggled with mental health issues. Her 23-match winning streak came to an end in the quarterfinals of the Miami Open.


Osaka then suffered a couple of early exits on the clay courts of Madrid and Rome. Just prior to the French Open, she announced her decision to skip the mandatory press conferences that players are required to attend. Her reason for doing so was that it had an adverse effect on her mental health.

NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ
NaomiOsaka大坂なおみ
@naomiosaka

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Osaka's decision sparked a conversation regarding the mental health of athletes. While she did compete at the French Open, she withdrew from the tournament after winning her first-round match. Following this, Osaka decided to skip Wimbledon as well.

The Japanese returned to action at the Tokyo Olympics, where she was eliminated in the third round by Marketa Vondrousova. Her next tournaments were at the Cincinnati Open and US Open, where she lost in the third round at both. Following her exit from the US Open, the 24-year old decided to take a break from tennis.

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Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka made a welcome return to Melbourne Park with a hard-earned victory in her first tour outing in four months on Tuesday.

Picking up where she left off with the women’s singles trophy on Rod Laver Arena last February – her fourth hard-court major – the top seed in the Melbourne Summer Set 1 event defeated world No.61 Alize Cornet 6-4 3-6 6-3.

It was the Japanese star’s second win from as many meetings with the Frenchwoman.

She also saw off the former world No.11 at Melbourne Park in her first outing of last season before her march through the Australian Open draw for the loss of one set only weeks later.

“I really love playing here. I love New York, but [the Australian Open] might be my favourite slam so it feels really good to always come back here… It feels really nice to play in front of people,” Osaka said.

It marked the 24-year-old’s first tour match since a third-round US Open defeat to eventual finalist Leylah Fernandez in September.

Osaka announced an indefinite leave from the tour for mental health reasons after her Flushing Meadows departure, one of only two majors she contested in 2021.

In cool and cloudy conditions at Melbourne Park, this was an ideal test of where she stood as she built towards her bid to defend a major for the first time.

“I really love playing here. I love New York, but [the Australian Open] might be my favourite slam so it feels really good to always come back here."
Naomi Osaka
“Shout out to my team. I really love them, they're like my family,” Osaka said. “Of course, I took time off so they told me to let them know when I was ready. I guess when I got bored enough at home… I just texted them and said I would love to play again… so they came over and, yeah, that's kind of how it went.”

Osaka had the match well within her grasp when she led a set and 3-1 before a dip in intensity and her opponent’s relentless counterpunching flipped momentum.

While last season was not Cornet’s most consistent, she reached her 14th tour final in Chicago on hard courts where she fell to Elina Svitolina and scored back-to-back grass-court wins over world No.5 Bianca Andreescu at Berlin and Wimbledon.

The Frenchwoman was no stranger to big upsets, having prevailed against Top 10 opponents 22 times before.

But no sooner had she reeled off five straight games to level the match than Osaka put a stop to the rot; her 20 unforced errors from the second set hastily tidied up as she set a second-round clash with Petra Martic or Maryna Sanevska.

DRAW: Melbourne Summer Set #1 women's singles

“For me, I feel like I probably made a lot of unforced errors today, but I kind of expected that because it is the first match,” Osaka said. “I was really nervous so I'm just glad that I was able to hold my serve in the last game.”

Pegula upset at Melbourne Summer Set #2
Earlier, world No.18 Jessica Pegula fell to Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu 7-6(6) 6-3 in the opening round of the Melbourne Summer Set 2 event.

The top seed reached her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal at last year’s Australian Open with victories over the likes of Victoria Azarenka and Elina Svitolina.

Having let three set points slip in the opening set on Rod Laver Arena, the American fell to the world No.62 in an hour and 45 minutes.

Of the home hopes, unranked 16-year-old Taylah Preston was unable to back up her victory over former world No.5 Sara Errani as compatriot Destanee Aiava booked her Summer Set 1 main draw berth 6-4 6-4.

Following 11 months sidelined due to injury, Kim Birrell fell short of joining Aiava in the main draw after she went down to Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove 6-4 6-4.

In the men’s Melbourne Summer Set event, Australian Rinky Hijikata saved a match point to qualify with his first top 100 win over Henri Laaksonen.

The 20-year-old advanced 4-6 7-6(8) 6-4 to join countrymen Alexei Popyrin, Jordan Thompson and Chris O’Connell in the main draw.