WTA Brisbane: ‘More excited than nervous’ Osaka to begin comeback against Korpatsch

The former world No 1 will play her first tournament in 15 months at the WTA 500 event in Brisbane

Noami Osaka at the 2022 Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati

December 30, 2023

Former world No 1 Naomi Osaka will make her comeback to tennis after a 15-month gap with a first round match against Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch at the WTA Brisbane International. The four-time Grand Slam winner last played on the tour in September 2022 and then took a break from the game as she gave birth to her first child.

This will be the first meeting between the two and the winner will meet former world No 1 Karolina Pliskova, who has a first round bye as the 14th seed, in the second round. The top 16 seeds, led by world No 2 Aryna Sabalenka and world No 3 Elena Rybakina, all receive first round byes in the 48-player draw.

I feel like I’m more confident with who I am as a person.
Naomi Osaka

“I feel like I’m more confident with who I am as a person,” Osaka told the press at Media Day on Saturday. “I never tried to have conversations with other players before, and I think I definitely put a large wall up. Now I find myself interacting with people. It’s just really cool. If I take myself out of being a tennis player, just seeing everyone working hard, being in the gym, seeing people change over the years, too, coming back and appreciating that is cool. I think in the time I had away, I appreciated the sport a lot more. After giving birth, I understood how physical and how much work it takes to get there.”

Main draw in Brisbane (WTA 500), where Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina are the top seeds.

Naomi Osaka will open her comeback against Tamara Korpatsch. The winner will face 3x champion Karolina Pliskova. #BrisbaneTennis pic.twitter.com/elHvxcG9bV
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) December 29, 2023

Osaka says she does not have expectations of winning but at the same time, she does feel ready for the comeback.

“I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t feel ready. I didn’t want to disappoint the people who were excited for me to come back and I didn’t want to disappoint myself. I would say I’m more excited than nervous, but with some drops of nervousness just because I haven’t played a match in what feels like forever. Obviously, I want to play well. I don’t have the expectation of winning. I just want to play well because I don’t know what my level is.”

Sabalenka to meet Bronzetti or Krueger in her opening match

Sabalenka, who won her first Grand Slam at the Australian Open last year, will meet either Lucia Bronzetti or Ashlyn Krueger in the second round. She has 15th seed Lin Zhu and former Australian Open runner-up Danielle Collins as potential third round opponents.

Another exciting first round clash sees 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva, the 2023 WTA Newcomer of the Year, take on 19-year-old Diana Shnaider in the first round with the winner facing fourth seed Liudmila Samsonova in the second round.

Former US Open champion Sloane Stephens also lurks in the draw as an unseeded floater. The American will meet Czech woman Katerina Siniakova in the first round and a win would set up a clash against 13th seed Elise Mertens in the second round.