Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka started the new year on a high, reaching her first WTA Tour quarterfinal in six months with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Julia Grabher at the ASB Classic in Auckland on Wednesday.

Osaka shook off some early mistakes and overcame a rain delay to defeat her unseeded opponent, booking a spot in Friday’s quarterfinal where she will face Hailey Baptiste or lucky loser Jodie Burrage.

The Japanese player, who beat Israel’s Lina Glushko in the first round of the WTA 250 tournament, is aiming for her first semifinal spot since returning to the tour last year after maternity leave.

Against Grabher, Osaka served at 64 per cent. She saved both break points she faced and lost just 13 points on serve. The four-time major winner was near-perfect on her serve, landing five aces and winning more than 80 per cent of her points on the second serve.

“I’ve never played her before so just getting into the groove of things is really difficult,” Osaka told reporters, adding, “especially because she doesn’t have a traditional game style.”

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The first set went with serve to 5-5 before the rain delay stopped proceedings for around an hour. The delay helped Osaka address her shaky start as she sought advice from her coach Patrick Mouratoglou, the former mentor of 23-time major winner Serena Williams who recently joined Osaka’s team.

“After the rain delay, I was able to focus on the things I wanted to focus on a lot more and I think that showed in the second set,” Osaka explained.

“I got some great advice from a great coach over there. I just tried to focus on my bullet points and go out swinging if I had to go out. But fortunately, I’m here to play another round.”

Osaka, who is back on tour after suffering a back injury at the China Open in October, broke early in the second set and continued to hold serve comfortably, wrapping up the match on her first match point.

The 27-year-old, currently ranked 57th, last played in a quarterfinal during the grass-court season in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands, where she narrowly lost in three sets to Bianca Andreescu.

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Osaka has battled for consistency since returning to the court in January 2024 after the birth of daughter Shai in July 2023. But so far this season, she has been unbeaten.

Reflecting on her last 12 months, Osaka said, “I was thinking about this last year, but I’m not a really confrontational person. But when you’re on the court, it’s like you’re in a boxing match.

“You need to have the will to fight more than the other person and I feel like I finally found that again. So I’m just really grateful for that,” she added.

The ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand is a tune-up for the Australian Open, which begins on January 12. Osaka is a two-time winner at Melbourne Park, winning the opening Grand Slam of the season in 2019 and 2021.

In the last edition of the hardcourt major, she was knocked out in the first round.