Defending Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka has brushed off a second-set stumble to scramble to victory over over Alize Cornet in her much-anticipated comeback to tennis.
Osaka, who has fallen out of the top 10 to world No.13, banked a 6-4 3-6 6-3 victory in the WTA 250 tournament at Melbourne Park on Tuesday.
The Japanese superstar, who also won the Open in 2019, was making her return to competition after a four-month break, last featuring at the US Open in September when she made a shock third-round exit.
After the loss to Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez, who was a surprise runner-up, Osaka tearfully announced she was taking an indefinite break from the sport to focus on her mental health.
It brought a tumultuous year to a close with the 24-year-old already withdrawing from the French Open and missed Wimbledon altogether.
She also admitted the pressure of being the face of the Tokyo Games might have been too much, falling short in her quest to medal after lighting the Olympic cauldron.
Osaka looked headed for a comfortable straight-sets win over Cornet, but lost her way in the second set to surrender a 3-1 lead.
With Osaka's serve proving shaky, Cornet reeled off five straight games to draw level.
But the four-time major winner steadied in the third when the pressure was on.
She admitted to being nervous despite her success in Melbourne.
"I feel like I probably made a lot of unforced errors today, but I kind of expected that because it is the first I was really nervous," Osaka said in her on-court interview.
"I'm just glad that I was able to you know hold my serve in the last game.
"I really love playing here - I live in New York, but this might be my favourite slam.
"It feels really good to always come back here."
Osaka will next face the winner of the clash between Croatian Petra Martic and Belgian Maryna Zanevska.
