Fly Girl: Osaka Rallies By Ruzic, Lands In AO Second Round

By Richard Pagliaro | Tuesday, January 20, 2026
Photo credit: Australian Open Facebook

Naomi Osaka walked onto Rod Laver Arena like a woman walking the runway of a theatrical fashion show.

Armed with a white parasol bearing a butterfly, Osaka wore a long ivory veil streaming from a white, wide-brimmed white hat topped by another butterfly.

Celebrating her 23rd birthday, Antonia Ruzic was on the verge of playing party crasher to the Osaka show, snatching a 4-3 lead and serving for 5-3 in the final set.

Under severe stress, Osaka found her wings zapping three straight aces to spark a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 comeback win in her Australian Open opener.

Relying on her most dynamic weapon, Osaka ripped five of her 11 aces in the final set winning the last three games of the match.

“Honestly, probably serve [was the key],” Osaka told Jelena Dokic afterward. “I think I served pretty well. And she’s an amazing player, I’ve never played her before, so  I hope to not see her on the other side of the net.

“But if I do, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna keep playing some really good matches.”

Two-time Australian Open champion Osaka said designed her butterfly entry outfit as a homage to her 2021 AO title run when a butterfly briefly danced on her face while on court.

“The inspiration was obviously the jellyfish, then butterflies, which kind of ties back to the butterfly moment I had here a long time ago, in 2021,” Osaka said. “Yeah, no, honestly it came together quite beautifully because I didn’t know what to expect when I arrived here.

“Then it just felt like everywhere I looked the theme was water. Obviously, the walkout was like you see oceans and waves. I thought that it was really beautiful. Really amazing coincidence.”

Tonight, Osaka’s serve stung like a bee, but her backhand frequently flat-lined into net. That’s why Osaka had to be pleased when she stepped in and lashed a clean backhand strike down the line to end a two-hour, 22-minute struggle.

It was a straight-forward start as Osaka, after setting the butterflies aside, soared out to a 3-0 lead dropping only three points in the first three games. 

The former No. 1 won 15 of 17 first-serve points in the opener and seemed to have the match in control.

The 65th-ranked Croatian had other ideas. 

Facing a Top 20 player for just the fourth time in her life, Ruzic was rapping her forehand down the line to storm back in the second set. Ruzic began following up the forehand strikes down the line by wrong-footing Osaka with forehands behind her.

That’s when a lunging Osaka began to reach for the ball and slap her backhands into net. 

In just her second major main-draw appearance, Ruzic burst out to a 4-1 second set lead as Osaka was casting concerned glances to coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.

The red lights affixed to the net post that signal an out ball stayed lit as Ruzic served for the set at 5-3. Chair umpire Marijana Veljovic gave both players the option to play with the lights on or wait.

Ruzic, serving two points from the set, wanted to play on, but Osaka chose to wait until the issue was fixed.

After about a seven-minute delay, AO staffers solved the issue the old-fashioned way: They unplugged the lights. 

Then Ruzic coaxed an errant return to close the second set and force a decider after 91 minutes.

After a brief break for a clothing change, Osaka returned to court and held to open the final set. 

The 2025 US Open semifinalist exploited a pair of Ruzic double faults to break for a 2-0 lead. Osaka was up 40-15 in the ensuing game but could not close. When Osaka jerked a running forehand long, Ruzic broke back in the third game.

Tension tightened and Ruzic responded hitting a fantastic forehand angled return for break point in the seventh game. The Osaka backhand failed her again straying wide as Ruzic broke for a 4-3 lead.

Two games from a massive upset, Ruzic did not even sit down on the ensuing changeover and looked overly-amped up when she returned to court. 

Seeing her inexperience opponent tighten up, Osaka picked it up pumping a crackling forehand return to break back for 4-all.

The ninth game was vintage Osaka as she whipped three wide aces in a row holding at 15 for 5-4.

“Honestly what was going in my head was that I thought my level was pretty good. If she’s playing at a level that’s higher than mine the entire time, then she deserves to win,” Osaka said. “Obviously I don’t want that to happen. But if it does, then it’s out of my hands because I’m literally doing the best that I can.

“I tried to change it up a little. I know she had, like, a really good backhand. I tried to hit more to her forehand. I tried to be a little bit more solid, then kind of accelerate when I could. Then obviously my serve came in really clutch at the end.”

A jittery Ruzic slapped a forehand into the bottom of the net to face match point.

This time, Osaka stepped into her backhand and blasted that stroke down the line wrapping up a challenging comeback with a bang.

Osaka will face retiring Romanian Sorana Cirstea in round two.

“Cirstea? I don’t know if I’ve played her before, but obviously I’ve seen her around quite a few times,” Osaka said. “I ironically did watch her match. She played Lys, no? I did watch that match before I was going on court. I didn’t even know she was my opponent.

“It seems like she was playing really good, pretty solid. I didn’t know the pace of the ball. Yeah, I think that will also be a really good match.”