Naomi Osaka expressed being “super disappointed,” but thought of 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 received the event the final time it was held in 2020, bounced again from dropping 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,” stated Osaka.
“It’s sort of powerful as a result of she has such an excellent serve – my break factors might have been higher, however I believe aside 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 issues. She had a child daughter in July earlier than deciding to make a comeback.
After a powerful first-round win over Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch, Osaka began strongly towards 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 search out the mark along with her serve.
She received 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 received the Brisbane International 3 times and stated 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,” stated Pliskova, including that after a first-round bye and never having performed since September, she wanted time to search out her toes.
“You can practice as much as you want, but in matches, it’s always a little bit different,” she stated.
Reigning Australian Open champion Sabalenka was in imperious type towards 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,” stated Sabalenka, who received 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
