"π° πππ ππππ πππππππ!" Naomi Osaka reflects on a winning return to tennis! Next up she'll face 2021 Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova πΎ #BrisbaneTennis
PREVIEW | 2024 Brisbane International Day Four including OSAKA v PLISKOVA, SABALENKA, RYBAKINA and RUNE
WTATuesday, 02 January 2024 at 20:20
After the return of Rafael Nadal dominated the schedule on Day Three, two of the top WTA players in the world and a battle of former World No.1's headlines the schedule on Day Four at the 2024 Brisbane International.
Our preview looks ahead to Day Four as second round action as Last 32 takes place in WTA and Last 16 begins in ATP. As ever we run through the leading stories ahead of the action.
Battle of former World No.1's as Osaka takes on Pliskova
Naomi Osaka had the tennis world positively purring at times as she took down Tamara Korpatsch in her opening tie at the Brisbane International. But it will be more sterner opposition when she returns to the court albeit a player who has been in no form at all but has pedigree.
That being Karolina Pliskova, the former World No.1 and former Wimbledon finalist who will be the next in her way. They begin at around 11am local time so will be through the early hours in UK and Europe. It is currently 3-2 in the head to head to Pliskova, but it is a match that has not taken place since 2020 when both were towards their peak.
Sabalenka and Rybakina finally start campaigns
Ordinarily without Osaka captivating attention on her tennis return, it would be Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina who would be taking centre stage when it comes to the schedule. But they will both start their campaigns anyway also on the Pat Rafter Arena. Sabalenka plays Lucia Bronzetti, while as of time of writing Rybakina awaits the victor of Kimberley Birrell and Olivia Gadecki so an Aussie will be her first opponent. Both had one of the best tournaments of their careers last year at the Australian Open with Sabalenka defeating Rybakina to seal her maiden Grand Slam title.
Both return this season with a point to prove as Sabalenka lost World No.1 and Rybakina played superbly for most of the year but couldn't hit her heights mainly due to illness and scheduling issues for the most part. Both have also been in action in exhibitions in recent weeks so albeit a lesser format are two players who have been in some form. Albeit the same could've been said for Sofia Kenin and she lost to Arina Rodionova earlier on Tuesday so the new tennis season is full of surprises.
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Rune continues campaign
On the ATP end, it is Holger Rune who is the leading light involved and he takes on Russian, Alexander Shevchenko in the final match on the schedule. The top seed will be favourite alongside likely Grigor Dimitrov to seal the title this week. Ben Shelton departed early for instance and Rafael Nadal is the other so called cork in the bottle, but after just a win over Dominic Thiem, it isn't time to count chickens just yet. So the intrigue will also be there on the men's side as to whether Holger Rune can keep going as the top name still involved.
Singles Schedule - 2024 Brisbane International Day Four
| Pat Rafter Arena | Show Court 1 | Show Court 2 | Court 10 | Court 14 |
| (WC) Naomi Osaka v (16) Karolina Pliskova (CZE) | (Q) Alex Michelsen (USA) v (4) Ugo Humber (FRA) | (WC) Daria Saville (AUS) v (11) Anasatasia Potapova | Matteo Arnaldi or Marton Fucsovics v Lucas Klein SVK | (6) Veronika Kudermetova v Anna Karolina Schmeidlova (SVK) |
| (1) Aryna Sabalenka v Lucia Bronzetti (ITA) | (Q) James Duckworth (AUS) v Yannick Hanfmann (GER) | Marta Kostyuk (UKR) v (5) Daria Kasatkina | Linda Noskova v (10) Sorana Cirstea (ROU) | |
| Roman Safiullin v Alexei Popyrin (AUS) | (3) Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) v Camila Giorgi (ITA) | (12) Anhelina Kalinina v Z.Sonmez or C.Burel | (7) Ekaterina Alexandrova v J.Riera or V.Tomova | |
| Kimberley Birrell or Olivia Gadecki v (2) Elena Rybakina (KAZ) | Mirra Andreeva v (4) Liudmila Samsonova | (9) Magda Linette v Cristina Bucsa (ESP) | ||
| (1) Holger Rune v Alexander Shevchenko | (13) Elise Mertens (BEL) v Sloane Stephens (USA) | H.Baptiste or D.Collins v (15) Lin Zhu (CHN) |
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