“I think it’s getting better day by day.” Bencic, who will next meet this month’s Melbourne Summer Set champion Amanda Anisimova, admitted the recovery had been slow and had impacted her build-up to the opening Grand Slam of the year. “I mean, my pulse was getting very up in the practices and even after Sydney, after the (Paula) Badosa match, I was very, very tired, and the breathing and everything,” she said after overcoming Kristina Mladenovic 6-4, 6-3 at Melbourne Park. The Swiss, seeded 22, caught coronavirus in mid-December after competing at an Abu Dhabi exhibition, and even last week at the Sydney Classic she was feeling “very, very tired”. Tokyo Olympics gold medallist Belinda Bencic said she was still feeling the effects of Covid, a month after falling ill, as she moved into round two of the Australian Open on Monday despite not being at her best. OLYMPIC CHAMP INTO ROUND TWO DESPITE COVID Osorio’s resurgence was short-lived with Osaka getting a decisive break in the third game of the second set and from there made no mistake, breaking again to book a second-round berth. Osaka had to dig deep to save two break points while serving for the set but clung on to seal it in 31 minutes. It definitely always feels special to come back here.” Seeded 13 after taking a long break after a disrupted 2021 season in which she said she had suffered “long bouts of depression”, Osaka raced into a 5-0 lead and appeared to be in full control.īut she then inexplicably lost focus as the feisty Osorio finally held serve, then against the odds broke the four-time Grand Slam winner and held again to haul herself back into the set at 3-5. “She played amazingly and fought for every point.

“I played pretty well, I didn’t have much info on my opponent,” said Osaka, who won the title at Melbourne Park in 20. Naomi Osaka took the victory in two sets.

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