Swiatek wrapped up victory after nearly three hours.
"It feels really nice to be back and I'm just really grateful to be here in front of everybody," said Osaka.
Naomi Osaka and Carlos Alcaraz bring the curtain up on the French Open on Sunday as Roland Garros prepares to bid a likely farewell to Rafael Nadal.
Naomi Osaka said she had taken a leaf out of Novak Djokovic's tactical playbook and tweaked her return game at the Qatar Open after the former women's world number one earned back-to-back wins for the first time in almost two years.
A single break proved enough for the French 16th seed to win the opening set against her rusty opponent and she dominated the second set tie-break to progress in Melbourne.
Fourth seed Gauff said ahead of the opening Grand Slam of the year at Melbourne Park that she wanted to win "multiple" major titles after her breakthrough at Flushing Meadows.
The 26-year-old from Japan last competed on tour at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in September 2022 and had her first child, daughter Shai, in July before stepping up her preparations for the Jan. 14-28 Australian Open
Showstopper Nick Kyrgios and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu were notable absentees Thursday from the 2024 Australian Open entry list, but Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka are set for their Grand Slam comebacks.
Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka became the latest star to pull out of the opening Grand Slam of the year Sunday, leaving the tournament deprived of some of the biggest names in the game.
Swiatek wrapped up victory after nearly three hours.
"It feels really nice to be back and I'm just really grateful to be here in front of everybody," said Osaka.
Naomi Osaka and Carlos Alcaraz bring the curtain up on the French Open on Sunday as Roland Garros prepares to bid a likely farewell to Rafael Nadal.
Naomi Osaka said she had taken a leaf out of Novak Djokovic's tactical playbook and tweaked her return game at the Qatar Open after the former women's world number one earned back-to-back wins for the first time in almost two years.
A single break proved enough for the French 16th seed to win the opening set against her rusty opponent and she dominated the second set tie-break to progress in Melbourne.
Fourth seed Gauff said ahead of the opening Grand Slam of the year at Melbourne Park that she wanted to win "multiple" major titles after her breakthrough at Flushing Meadows.
The 26-year-old from Japan last competed on tour at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo in September 2022 and had her first child, daughter Shai, in July before stepping up her preparations for the Jan. 14-28 Australian Open
Showstopper Nick Kyrgios and former US Open champion Emma Raducanu were notable absentees Thursday from the 2024 Australian Open entry list, but Rafael Nadal and Naomi Osaka are set for their Grand Slam comebacks.
Two-time Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka became the latest star to pull out of the opening Grand Slam of the year Sunday, leaving the tournament deprived of some of the biggest names in the game.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka retired from her opening match on Tuesday at the WTA Toronto Masters with lower back pain, raising injury concerns with the US Open looming.