“Really fun and really stressful at the same time” – back inside top-100, Osaka looks to build on first Wimbledon win in six years

Naomi Osaka was unranked at the start of the season. Two weeks later she was No 831 at the Australian Open.

For the former world No 1 and four-time major champion, her comeback from maternity leave has been a slow and steady rise.

This week at Wimbledon, where she defeated Diane Parry in the opening round, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4, Osaka learned that she’s headed back into the top-100 after Wimbledon.

“This means a lot to me,” she said on social media.

A tough battle on Day 1

Osaka had her ups and down against the talented Frenchwoman on No.2 Court, but ultimately finished on the up as he notched her first Wimbledon win since 2018. She will play American Emma Navarro, the No 19 seed, in the second round.

Osaka called the experience both fun and stressful.

“I mean, for me, it felt really fun and really stressful at the same time,” she said. “It was fun because the crowd was so engaged. It was just really fun. It felt like an arena. The match I think was a little up-and-down, but I think overall it was something that I can take a lot away from.

“I feel like today honestly felt very hectic just because of the way she played. I felt that I had to constantly tell myself to be in control of the point. When she was slicing and stuff, it was a little stressful. I feel really relieved to have won this in three sets. I think it will do good for my character development.

“I’m just excited to play my next match.”

Serving could be better, return was key

Though Osaka won 77 percent of her first-serve points, she wasn’t happy with her serving on Monday. She won just 18 of 40 second-serve points, cracked five aces and faced 12 break points, saving eight.

“I think my serve wasn’t the greatest today,” she said. “I feel like I definitely should have had a higher percentage. Ironically I felt like I returned pretty well. There were certain games where the score didn’t show that, but I felt like I was continuously putting pressure on her. That’s why she double-faulted on the match point. I’m glad about that because it’s something that I’ve been working on for a while. To have it, I guess, manifest during the grass season is a really good result for me.”

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