Osaka, Raducanu, Halep Head Melbourne Field

Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka will tune up for her AO title defense in Melbourne.Former No. 1 Osaka will make her long-awaited Tour return at the WTA 250 tournament in Melbourne set for January 3-9th.More: IMG Acquires Mutua Madrid Open

World No. 13 Osaka pulled the plug on her 2021 season after her three-set US Open loss to Leylah Fernandez last September.Reigning US Open champion Emma Raducanu, former world No. 1 Simona Halep, Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Jessica Pegula, Elise Mertens and Camila Giorgi are among the notable names in the field.Photo credit: Cameron Spencer/Getty]]>

Chris Oddo is a freelance sportswriter, podcaster, blogger and social media marker who is a lead contributor to Tennisnow.com. He also writes for USOpen.org, Rolandgarros.com, BNPParibasOpen.com, TennisTV.com, WTAtennis.com and the official US Open program.