There was no hiding Naomi Osaka’s joy — and relief — on Wednesday.
After dropping the first set in spectacular fashion to No. 20 seed Karolina Muchova, Osaka stormed back for her biggest victory since returning from maternity leave just over a year ago.
On her third match point, in front of a passionate crowd at Kia Arena, Osaka sealed the improbable victory, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3, to advance to her first Round of 32 at a major in three years. She jumped up and down as she waved her hands and smiled. And then she put her hand over her heart and closed her eyes.
For the four-time major champion, including two at the Australian Open, it wasn’t just the victory or the third-round ticket that made her so emotional, it was how she did it — and who she was playing against. In both of her matches in Melbourne, including during her first-round clash with former world No. 4 Caroline Garcia, Osaka needed three sets to beat strong opponents who had defeated her in Grand Slams in 2024.
The victories are a sign of how far she’s come since her return, and a reminder of just how good she can be.
“It means a lot,” Osaka told the crowd during her on-court interview. “[Muchova is] an incredibly difficult opponent for me to play. She crushed me at the US Open when I had my best outfit ever. I was so disappointed. I was so mad.
“I’m glad I got my revenge. It’s not a bad thing, revenge is competitive. She’s one of the toughest opponents out there.”
It’s been a roller-coaster journey for Osaka since her return — even during the first three weeks of the 2025 season.
When Osaka announced her pregnancy ahead of the 2023 Australian Open, some wondered if she would ever return to competitive tennis. She had been candid about challenges to her mental health and spoke openly about the crushing toll that fame and success had on her. She had already taken multiple breaks from the sport, and her future seemed largely uncertain.
But throughout her time away, Osaka insisted she would be back — popping up at the 2023 US Open as a spectator and posting training videos that fall — and she made good on that. However, despite showing flashes of her previous championship form, her comeback season in 2024 was challenging. She lost in the first round of the Australian Open to Garcia, and never advanced past the second round at any major. She reached just two WTA quarterfinals on the year.
But this year is already showing more promise. After parting ways with coach Wim Fissette in September, Osaka began working with Patrick Mouratoglou — the former longtime coach of legendary tennis star Serena Williams. Following an offseason training block in Los Angeles, Osaka opened the new year in Auckland by reaching her first final in nearly three years.
But after convincingly taking the first set over Clara Tauson during the title match, she then had to retire with an abdominal injury. Tears flowed and her Australian Open status was immediately in doubt.
Despite an MRI scan soon after that “wasn’t fantastic,” Osaka wanted to try to play. With over a week to recover before the start of the Australian Open, she showed few outward signs of discomfort in the first match of her revenge tour against Garcia and ultimately notched the 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory.
She’s also had a challenging period off the court. Last week, she publicly announced her separation from her partner Cordae, the rapper and father of her daughter, and has more recently revealed how close the wildfires have come to her house in Los Angeles.
“I was watching the fire map, and the fire is like three blocks from my house,” Osaka said after her first-round win. “So I had someone go and get my daughter’s birth certificate and all that because I didn’t know what would happen if that burned down.”
During the first set against Muchova on Wednesday, it looked as if everything might have been catching up to her. She simply had no answers for Muchova’s blistering athleticism and versatility. Osaka found herself down 5-0 in just 20 minutes, and the set was over 10 minutes later. But despite the lopsided score, Osaka said she did everything she could to stay mentally in the match.
“I wasn’t really prepared for it, but I just [wanted to] be aware and try not to get so negative on [myself],” Osaka later told reporters while wearing a Dodgers hat and a Lakers jersey. “I think for me, the score in the first set was very dramatic, but there [were] key points that I could have maybe won a game here or there, so I kept trying to tell myself that and yeah, just try not to live in the past.”
Her strategy worked. In the second set it was Muchova who was left scrambling to figure out Osaka’s game, and she was overwhelmed by Osaka’s power.
During her first season back, Osaka’s once-trademark confidence looked shaky at times and she would often struggle in the biggest moments of the match, as she did during a blockbuster showdown with Iga Swiatek at the 2024 French Open. But there was no evidence of doubt on Wednesday. While Muchova raised her level in the deciding set, Osaka broke her in the fifth game and was firmly in control from that point on.
“I did believe in myself the entire time,” Osaka said later.
She added she wasn’t worried that her game “would slip away” and credited her run in Auckland for preparing her mentally and physically.
The 27-year-old Osaka will now have yet another tough test on Friday against Belinda Bencic, the 2020 Olympic gold medalist and former US Open semifinalist who made her return from childbirth earlier this month. Bencic, who owns a 3-2 head-to-head record over Osaka, said their previous results were somewhat irrelevant at this stage, but said she was looking forward to a “fun match” and was excited for the opportunity.
Osaka said Bencic was “an incredibly tough player” and wasn’t focused on their shared status as moms when preparing for the match.
“It probably adds extra stuff for you guys,” she said to reporters. “Not necessarily for me … When you go onto the tennis court, you just think of yourself as a tennis player.”
If Osaka were to win, it would potentially set up a blockbuster showdown against No. 3 seed and 2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round.
Osaka wasn’t thinking about Gauff or beyond on Wednesday night. In fact, she said she was barely able to think about Bencic after such a grueling match. She wasn’t trying to dwell too much about reaching the third round for the first time since 2022 either, but she admitted it had been a goal entering the season, as was beating a seeded player. Now, she said, she just wanted to continue playing and would do everything she could to keep winning.
“I’ve kind of made peace with it, to get me off this court, you’re going to wheel me off in an ambulance,” Osaka said with a smile at the end of her press conference. “Obviously, I won my match today. I’m doing well, I’m serving well. So yeah, I’m kind of excited about it.”
