Nami Osaka’s triumphant return to Auckland

Naomi Osaka won this Monday after almost three months of absence. He won the first round of the tournament in Auckland, undeterred by protests outside the stadium against his Israeli opponent.

The four-time Grand Slam champion defeated qualifying player Lina Glushko 6-4, 6-4 in a tight contest in his first match since October, when a back injury at the China Open ended his 2024 season.

All the hallmarks of Osaka’s game were there on Monday: her powerful serve, her powerful groundstrokes, especially from the forehand, and her aggressiveness. He seemed relaxed and comfortable on the court, with no signs of his recent injury.

Osaka had to deal with swirling winds on Center Court and a delay in play caused by chants from a small group of protesters that could be clearly heard inside the stadium.

With Osaka serving for the first set, Glushko had to leave the court to treat a hip injury. “I have no idea what the score is most of the time. I just try to tell myself every point and try not to get discouraged. Luckily, in the end everything went in my favor,” Osaka said, who had the support of her new coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, who has been linked for years to Serena Williams.

Osaka broke Glushko’s serve in the third game of the first set and won comfortably 6-4. The second set was tougher. Osaka broke Glushko in the third game, but Glushko capitalized on her only break point in the first set.

The second set was tougher. Osaka broke Glushko in the third game, but Glushko took advantage of her only break point of the match to tie the contest (2-2).

In the seventh game, Glushko held serve and went ahead 4-3, but Osaka seemed to be ahead at that point, holding two aces for 4-4, breaking at 5-4 and holding the lead with the serve win.

His serve was solid all the time. He served seven aces and won 74% of first serve points. His first serve is around 180 km/h and his slice is around 140 km/h.