New mother Naomi Osaka won the first match of her comeback by defeating Tamara Korbach in straight sets at the Brisbane International.
The Japanese, winner of four Grand Slam titles, playing in her first tournament in 15 months, defeated the unseeded German 6-3, 7-6 (11-9).
She will face Karolina Pliskova in the next round.
“I'm very proud of myself,” the 26-year-old Osaka said. “I feel like I played at a very good level. I think my opponent played well, too.”
Osaka moved impressively and hit the ball with familiar force in a wonderful response, but she showed some signs of nerves after taking a 5-3 lead in the second set.
She became a little nervous and had to save two set points before winning the volatile tiebreaker 11-9 to set up a second-round match with her compatriot Pliskova, former world number one.
Osaka briefly acknowledged the New Year's Day crowd as she emerged to a warm welcome, as rain fell on the roof of Pat Rafter Arena.
Osaka, who was currently unseeded, got off to a perfect start and broke down Korbach with some powerful shots and two powerful winners.
The world number 84 showed some strong resistance after that, but Osaka broke her serve again to take the second set point with a powerful forehand.
The match threatened to turn around early in the second set – Osaka got off to a hesitant start after both players returned from the bathroom and dropped her serve due to a double fault.
But she immediately restored parity with some successful strikes and came close to winning by breaking Korbach's serve to lead 5-3.
It can often be difficult to close matches after a long break from competition, and this was proven when Osaka played a weak serve game to concede the advantage.
Korbach's confidence was growing and she earned two specific points. The second, on her own serve, was saved by Osaka with a powerful backhand and the Japanese player was then able to cross her serve line.
“She came back really well at the end of the second set,” Osaka said. “That put me off a little bit.”
“I feel like I was nervous so I wasn't able to close out the points the way I wanted to. I think I should expect that from the first game this year.”
