Osaka is now 13th in the world.
Naomi Osaka made a winning comeback after four months out with a victory in the first round.
She was not her best on her return but still managed to beat Alize Cornet.
There were 57 unforced errors in Osaka.
She said that she was going to have a new attitude to her game.
She only has one major goal this year, and that is to have fun on the court.
Even if I lost, I could walk off the court knowing that I tried my best.
I'm the type of person who cares a lot about the results and the ranking. I need to find a way to enjoy the game again because that's the reason I was playing in the first place.
At the French Open last year, the four-time Grand Slam winner said she wouldn't do news conferences to protect her mental health.
She missed Wimbledon to take a break from tennis after she experienced anxiety and depression.
At the Olympics in Tokyo, where she lit the flame at the opening ceremony, she lost in the third round and then stepped away from the sport again after seeing her US Open title defence end in the third round.
She admits that her time away has helped her gain a different perspective and she has vowed not to cry in news conferences again after she broke down in tears in Cincinnati.
She said talking to people probably got her ready again. During the off-season, I talked to my family a lot and hung out with my friends. I felt like that was a way of easing the pressure on myself.
I slowly began to regain the feeling of love that I had towards the game. It's not completely gone away, but I felt like it got overshadowed by a lot of emotions that I was feeling just by playing year after year.
It was an extreme build-up, and you saw it all release last year. I don't feel the same way. I'm going into this year a bit more hopeful.
The French world number 61 fought back to win four straight games and the set after Osaka had won the opening set.
The former world number one claimed the first three games of the final set before serving out the win from 0-30 down and setting up a meeting with Belgium's Maryna Zanevska.
