TWO-TIME champion Naomi Osaka failed to advance to the second round of the Australian Open on her comeback as she bowed out to Caroline Garcia today.
The Japanese star had taken a 15-month break from tennis to have a baby and was hoping to mark her first Grand Slam match since 2022 with victory.
However, Osaka went down 6-4, 7-6 to French 16th seed Caroline Garcia on the Rod Laver Arena court where she won two of her four Grand Slam titles.
Also today in Melbourne, 2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff, who had first announced herself to the tennis world after upsetting then defending champion Osaka in the Australian Open in 2020, eased into the second round with a convincing 6-3, 6-0 win over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.
Marketa Vondrousova, another new member of the Grand Slam champions club, however was not as ruthless as Gauff, crashing out to Ukrainian qualifier Dayana Yastremska.
The Czech was the first unseeded player to win the women’s trophy at Wimbledon last year but succumbed to a 6-1, 6-2 upset loss today.
Australian Alex De Minaur, who stunned Novak Djokovic at the United Cup in the build-up to this tournament, also went through when his opponent, Milos Raonic, retired injured.
Greek seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas went a set down in his match against lucky loser Zizou Bergs but produced a remarkable shot from his opponent’s side of the net to help turn the tide before securing a 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 victory.
Stan Wawrinka, the only man apart from Djokovic in the draw to have won the title, later took Adrian Mannarino to five sets before losing 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.
While the 38-year-old Swiss said he hoped to return, Britain’s Andy Murray said his 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 loss to Tomas Martin Etcheverry might be his last match at Melbourne Park.
