Naomi Osaka returned to grand slam tennis after maternity leave in the same way she left it, with a first-round loss. Osaka went down 6-4, 7-6(2) to Caroline Garcia on Rod Laver Arena at the Australian Open on Monday.
Taking on the experienced French 16th seed was always going to be a big challenge for the twice Australian Open champion, who returned to tournament tennis only two weeks ago after 15 months out.
The power that took Osaka to four grand slam titles before she took time off to have daughter Shai was still there but it was always going to take the 26-year-old time to rediscover her accuracy in clutch moments.
Garcia said she had a huge amount of respect for Osaka and was sure it would not be long before the Japanese former world No.1 was back at the top of the game.
Jabeur sails
Ons Jabeur began her latest bid to become the first Arab and African woman to claim a grand slam title with a comfortable 6-3, 6-1 win over Yuliia Starodubtseva.
The smiling sixth seed came within touching distance of grand slam glory previously by reaching the last two Wimbledon finals and finishing runner-up to Iga Swiatek at the 2022 US Open.
“It’s very special to come back here,” said Jabeur, who crashed out in the second round in 2023 amid health issues. “I decided to rest a bit before the Australian Open and play here.
Vondrousova exits
US Open champion Coco Gauff romped into the second round but Wimbledon title-holder Marketa Vondrousova made a humbling exit at the hands of qualifier Dayana Yastremska.
Fourth seed Gauff admitted to making a nervous start in the first match on Rod Laver Arena but soon hit her stride to rattle off the last nine games for a convincing 6-3, 6-0 win over Anna Schmiedlova.
“I think I just freed up and everything started to fall in place,” said the American, playing her last Grand Slam as a teenager.
Vondrousova was the first unseeded player to win the women’s title at Wimbledon last year but found the shoe on the other foot on Monday as she succumbed to a 6-1, 6-2 upset loss at the hands of Yastremska.
“I didn’t practise much before the tournament because I was injured,” said Vondrousova, who pulled out of a warm-up with a hip issue.
Australian qualifier Storm Hunter beat former French Open finalist Sara Errani 6-4, 6-3.
The 2024 crop of qualifiers have caused a host of problems for top players on the first two days of the tournament, not least Dino Prizmic’s defiance of 10-time champion Novak Djokovic over four hours on Sunday night.
Third seed Daniil Medvedev was perhaps fortunate that his opponent, Terence Atmane, retired injured during his opening match on a sunbathed Margaret Court Arena.
The French world No. 144, who had taken the first set off the 2021 US Open champion before Medvedev levelled up the contest at 1-1, was holding his own in the third when he started suffering severe cramps in his thigh.
The 22-year-old struggled on for almost an hour but finally called time on his first grand slam main draw match while trailing the Russian 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 1-0.
“He played pretty well,” Medvedev said of the qualifier. “I played badly at the start. When I started feeling better physically, he started cramping.”
‘Amazing feeling’
There were emotional scenes on Court 13 where Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli won his first grand slam main draw match with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 7-5 upset of Chilean 18th seed Nicolas Jarry.
Sebastian Korda, the 29th seed, needed five sets to get past Czech qualifier Vit Kopriva 6-1, 6-4, 2-6, 4-6, 6-2, while French lucky loser Hugo Gaston ousted Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Stan Warwinka, the only man apart from Djokovic in the field to have won the title, took Italian Adrian Mannarino to five sets before bowing out 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.
Andy Murray lost 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 to Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry.
