Home Sports Australian Open: Naomi Osaka reaches third round of Grand Slam for first time in 3 years

Australian Open: Naomi Osaka reaches third round of Grand Slam for first time in 3 years

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Naomi Osaka of Japan reacts after winning a point against Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic during their second round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Naomi Osaka has been dealing with a lot over the past two weeks. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

For the first time in three years, the tennis world will see Naomi Osaka in the third round of a Grand Slam.

The two-time Australian Open champion advanced to the third round of the tournament on Wednesday with a surprise 1-6, 6-1, 6-3 victory over No. 20 seed Karolina Muchová. The victory was also a turnaround from the pair’s meeting at the 2024 US Open, which Muchová won 6-3, 7-6.

Osaka will face former top 5 player Belinda Bencic in the third round.

One more victory would be Osaka’s first appearance in a Grand Slam fourth round since her victory at the 2021 Australian Open, which feels like a lot more than four years ago. That was the year Osaka took a hiatus from tennis after a controversy at the French Open in which she said she would forgo media appearances due to mental health issues.

Osaka took another hiatus after a tough exit from the US Open that year and struggled further in 2022. She stepped away from tennis to give birth to her daughter in 2023 and struggled to return to fitness upon returning last year.

However, it’s not like he hasn’t had obstacles in Melbourne this year. She She broke up with her daughter’s father, rapper Cordae, last weekhe withdrew from his final warm-up tournament, the Auckland Open, the previous week due to an apparent abdominal problem and is currently facing the prospect of losing his home to the Los Angeles bushfires.

After her first round victory over Caroline García, she said she had to send someone to retrieve her daughter’s birth certificate, via ESPN:

“Honestly, I don’t think I did my best to stay focused, but obviously I won, so I think it’s a decent job,” Osaka said of dividing her thoughts between Los Angeles and the tournament she’s competing in. “It’s really hard for me… because now I find my home is more of a home because I have memories with my daughter. There’s so many things, memories and things like that.”

Despite all that, Osaka took a step forward that she had been waiting for years.

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