BRISBANE, Australia — Former No. 1 and new mom Naomi Osaka hit the practice court Wednesday ahead of the Brisbane International as she prepared for her much-anticipated return to tennis.
Osaka will make her WTA comeback at the tournament, which begins Sunday at Pat Rafter Arena. A two-time Australian and US Open champion, Osaka pulled out of last year’s Australian Open in Melbourne and later revealed she was pregnant.
The U.S.-based Japanese player and her American rapper boyfriend, Cordae, became parents to daughter Shai in Los Angeles in July.
Osaka has played only one game since the 2021 US Open in New York. She was leading Daria Saville 1-0 at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in September 2021 before the Australian suffered a serious knee injury and had to retire from the match.
“She’s really pumped, excited to be back in Brisbane,” tournament director Cameron Pearson said Wednesday. “She arrived Christmas morning and was out practicing a few hours later. No Christmas pudding for her, she was straight into it.”
Rafael Nadal also is set to return from injury in Brisbane in a 32-man ATP field so strong that Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini and 2020 US Open champion Dominic Thiem will have to qualify to feature in it.
Nadal held his first practice session Thursday in Brisbane.
Thiem made the Australian Open final in 2020, and Berrettini was a semifinalist two years later. Both are currently sitting outside the top-60 cutoff mark that received automatic entry into the season-opening event.
Holger Rune, at No. 8, is the highest-ranked man in the tournament. American Ben Shelton and three-time Grand Slam singles champion Andy Murray are also entered.
Reigning Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka, Elena Rybakina, Jelena Ostapenko, Victoria Azarenka, Sofia Kenin and Sloane Stephens are in the 54-player women’s draw.