MELBOURNE – Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka kicked off the 2022 season with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 win over Alize Cornet on Tuesday at one of the Summer Set tournaments in Melbourne.
Osaka returned to the Rod Laver Arena for the first time since winning the Australian Open last February. It was also his first Tour-level game since losing the US Open third round to Leylah Fernández in September.
Osaka was up one set and one break before Cornet went off for five games to force a third set. Osaka, the former world number, put up just 38% of her first serves, had eight double faults and 57 unforced errors, but she countered that with 51 winners. She only faced three break points against in a match that lasted more than two hours.
“I feel like I made a lot of unforced errors today,” said top seed Osaka. “But I anticipated that because it is the first game and I was very nervous.”
Travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic led to a crowded schedule of events in Australia before the Australian Open kicks off on January 17.
Three events take place this week in Melbourne as part of the governing body Tennis Australia’s Summer Set tournaments – two WTA tournaments and one ATP tournaments. A joint ATP and WTA tournament is taking place in Adelaide this week. The ATP Cup takes place in Sydney.
Jessica Pegula, the top seed of the other women’s Summer Set tournament in Melbourne, lost in her first round match 7-6 (6), 6-3 to Irina-Camelia Begu.
Pegula, who reached the quarter-finals at last year’s Australian Open, was leading 5-3 and had set points before Begu rallied for victory.
In Adelaide, 2020 Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek kicked off her Adelaide International title defense with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Daria Saville, who was known as Daria Gavrilova prior to her recent marriage.
In other matches, American teenager Coco Gauff beat Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri 6-2 6-1 and will face world number one Ash Barty in the second round. Additionally, 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin beat Lucia Bronzetti 7-5, 7-5, and Anastasia Gasanova beat eighth seed Elina Svitolina 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in a match that lasted 2 hours and 34 minutes.
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