Former number one ranked player Naomi Osaka returned to competition for the first time in 15 months to win her round one match in the Brisbane International.
She needed three match points in a tiebreaker to seal her victory 6-3, 7-6 (9) against Tamara Korpatsch.
The four-time grand slam champion competed with a renewed focus and perspective on life with thoughts of her daughter Shai on her mind.
“It’s a big change overnight. For me, I love it a lot because … in a way I would say (Shai) has helped me grow up so much so quickly,” CBS News reported Osaka as saying.
Osaka first took a break from tennis to focus on her mental health, then she announced she would be withdrawing from the Australian Open last year due to her pregnancy.
“Part of me felt like Shai was watching me,” Osaka said to the Guardian. “I wanted to do my best for her.”
She said she even looks at her fans differently as a mother than she did previously. She said when she signed autographs for young fans, she imagined Shay being that age.
“I see them differently now because now I’m a mom, too.”
Osaka became a mom alongside her partner, rapper Cordae, in July.
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