Former world number one Naomi Osaka secured her first Wimbledon win since 2018 on Monday, overcoming Diane Parry of France. The four-time Grand Slam champion battled through to a 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 victory.
Osaka dominated the first set, winning it in just 22 minutes, but Parry, ranked 53rd, fought back to level the match. In a tense final set, Parry took a 3-1 lead before Osaka rallied to level at 3-3.
Osaka then saved two break points to go ahead 5-4 and sealed the win when Parry committed her 10th double fault of the match.
The victory was particularly special for Osaka as it came just a day before her daughter Shai's first birthday.
"It feels like a dream because I haven't played here many times," AFP quoted Osaka, whose last appearance at the All England Club was in 2019, when she exited in the first round.
"I hope it was fun for everyone to watch. I'm really excited to be here because Wimbledon was the first tournament I watched last year after my pregnancy."
Naomi Osaka, who returned to the tour at the start of the season after maternity leave, is currently ranked 113th and needed a wild card to compete at Wimbledon.
At the recent French Open, Osaka posed a significant challenge to world number one Iga Swiatek, holding a match point in their second-round encounter before Swiatek ultimately triumphed.
"My heart was racing today. These are the types of matches you need to play to ease into the tournament," she said.
"I'm glad I didn't have to play a final set tiebreaker."
Osaka admitted that she found it challenging to dig deep when she was down a break in the deciding set.
"I can be a little bit down on myself but I'm really trying to stay positive," explained the 26-year-old.
"There's a really nice man over here that was just telling me 'Come on Naomi' and I was like 'Yeah, I got this, I got this' so thank you."
Osaka will face either US 19th seed Emma Navarro or Wang Qiang of China in the next round for a chance to advance to the last 32 at Wimbledon.
