Former World No.1 Naomi Osaka posted another victory in her comeback from maternity leave, besting Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-3, 6-4 in the first round of the Miami Open on Wednesday.

The four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka needed 1 hour and 18 minutes to defeat World No.51 Cocciaretto. Making the seventh Miami Open appearance of her career, Osaka has still never lost her opening match at the tournament.

"Honestly, this is probably the most free that I was able to hit my balls, like, the closest to the feeling I want to capture going forward," Osaka said after her win. "I would say this is probably my best match in terms of shot-making. I felt like the balls I wanted to hit were there. I'm pretty happy with this one."

Successful return: Osaka last played the Miami Open in 2022, where she beat Angelique Kerber, Danielle Collins and Belinda Bencic before finishing runner-up to Iga Swiatek. At the end of that year, Osaka began her maternity leave, and she gave birth to daughter Shai in July 2023.

Osaka started her return to tour early this season; she opened the year 1-3 but came into Miami having won four of her last six matches. Her best result of the year is a trip to the quarterfinals at WTA 1000 Doha -- her first quarterfinal since her 2022 Miami Open run.

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By beating former Top 30 player Cocciaretto, Osaka picked up another quality win in 2024. Italy's Cocciaretto entered Miami in hot form, having won the WTA 125 title in Charleston, South Carolina just last week.

Osaka is now 5-0 against players from Italy in her career. One of those wins came in the opening leg of the Sunshine Double, when the Japanese player beat Sara Errani in the first round of Indian Wells at the start of this month.

Match facts: Wednesday was an strong serving day for Osaka. She fired six aces, won 85 percent of her first-service points and never allowed Cocciaretto to hold a break point.

An early break led Osaka to a quick 4-1 advantage in the first set. Cocciaretto did well to erase four break points in a hold for 4-2, but the Italian was unable to pull herself back into the opener as Osaka notched the one-set lead.

Osaka needed only one break of serve in the second set as well, cranking a backhand return winner down the line to lead 3-2. Osaka eased to victory from there, closing out the clash with an ace on her second match point.

Looking ahead: Osaka will now have a second-round showdown against another returning mom, No.15 seed Elina Svitolina. The Ukrainian came back from her own maternity leave less than a year ago and is already back inside the Top 20.

Osaka and Svitolina have evenly split their six previous meetings. Their most recent meeting came in the 2019 Australian Open quarterfinals, which Osaka won in straight sets en route to the title.

"I remember watching [Svitolina] playing Wimbledon while I was pregnant, and I remember thinking that I want to be there too one day," Osaka said. "She's always just been a really great player, so it's not surprising to me she's back in the Top 20. It's more like that's where she belongs."