PREVIEW | 2024 Brisbane International Day Two featuring return of Naomi OSAKA, MURRAY v DIMITROV, RUNE and SHELTON

The 2024 Brisbane International is underway and it is Day Two where the action really begins to heat up with a superb New Years Day Order of Play to bring in 2024 including the return of a former World No.1 and four-time Grand Slam champion in Naomi Osaka.

As well as that, the ATP tournament takes centre stage with a superb line-up featuring the top three seeds in a row all playing on Pat Rafter Arena in Holger Rune, Ben Shelton and Grigor Dimitrov's stand-out tie with the legendary Andy Murray. Our preview takes you through the main talking points ahead of Day Two.

Despite not being in the greatest of form during the latter stages of her previous run on the WTA Tour before becoming a mother, Naomi Osaka is still one of the most recognisable athletes in the sport and alongside Rafael Nadal will make her return to action in Brisbane.

The former World No.1 and four-time Grand Slam champion sealed two of her titles in Australia meaning that despite the likelihood of her firing again early being minimal, it is a country and a climate that she enjoys playing in. First up on the Pat Rafter Arena in the Day Session, she will face off against Tamara Korpatsch.

Known mainly before the end of last year for the fiasco with Harmony Tan at Wimbledon and skipping doubles, Korpatsch is now a WTA titlist having won the Transylvania Open in the dying embers of the 2023 season. So as a result has some form and more so than Osaka. But of course at a lower level and a player with levels way above like Osaka may pay heed to that.

Albeit prior to her comeback, Osaka only won back-to-back games last during Miami in 2022 where she reached the final losing to Iga Swiatek in straight sets. Injuries blighted her from there on out and it came to a head during the Pan Pacific Open where despite being the home favourite, she had to withdraw in the second round. From there, she curtailed her season but then announced she was set to become a mother in January 2023. She set Australian Open as a goal and barring any mishaps, she is set to reach that. A new chapter for Osaka and one that begins on New Years Day.

Two of the best players to watch on the ATP Tour follow on from Osaka as Ben Shelton will kick off his campaign in new territory one year on from beginning his World Tour where he left the USA and played all year round only really returning for Flushing Meadows.

It saw Shelton see new countries and take defeat in many cases after a good first run in Melbourne. But that made him stronger as he returned from his season with a US Open semi-final, a maiden ATP title and reaching the top 15 in the world. A star very much on the up and he takes on Roman Safiullin.

From a star who did his business at the end of the season to one who couldn't and that is Holger Rune who after Wimbledon dropped like a stone. A myriad of injuries and illness saw him lose match after match and it was only bringing Boris Becker on board that arrested the slide and saw green shoots again. He faces a tricky test in Max Purcell. Especially given Becker and Severin Luthi won't be by his side until Melbourne.

While Rafael Nadal as expected somewhat got a qualifier, Andy Murray wasn't let off as lightly as he got another horrific draw. A theme of his run over the last few years as he faces Grigor Dimitrov.

Playing some of the best tennis of his life, Dimitrov has been utterly sublime in the past year and reached the Paris final. Ironically, Murray himself picked out the draw so you could say he only had himself to blame. Same school of thought as Elina Svitolina picking Caroline Wozniacki and Emma Raducanu in her section in Auckland.

It is 8-4 in favour of Murray in the Head to Head albeit with Dimitrov winning the last one back in 2023 at the US Open where he blew the Brit away, perhaps a better reflection of this clash especially given that the rest came mainly between 2014-2016 when both were at their pomp.