Naomi Osaka, the defending Aussie Open champ who is also on the comeback trail, saw her journey in Melbourne end on Friday with a thrilling loss to unseeded Amanda Anisimova. Osaka, seeded 13th, came out strong but lost the second set, which led to a fantastic tiebreaker in the third set. Anisimova won 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5).
The 20-year-old Anisimova may be unseeded, but she's an up-and-coming talent who looks to be primed and ready to break through the thickly talented women's field this year. Osaka said she'd been looking forward to facing her, and the two played fiery, competitive tennis to the very end.
Though the loss was disappointing, Osaka was in good spirits in her post-match news conference, which was notable considering her past comments on how uncomfortable they can make her. She recognized that she still has some work to do to get her tennis back to the level it was a year ago, but she saw her experience in Melbourne as largely positive.
