DJ, run it back! Caroline Garcia has humorous take on Australian Open rematch with Naomi Osaka

New year, same draw—at least as far as Caroline Garcia and Naomi Osaka are concerned.

The full reveal of the Australian Open women's singles bracket on Thursday in Melbourne had the tennis world buzzing about several high-profile match-ups ... and one sequel. Garcia and Osaka will play in the first round of the tournament for the second year in a row.

Twelve months ago, former world No. 4 Garcia beat Osaka 6-4, 7-6(2) in the latter's first Grand Slam match since becoming a mother, and the duo went on to play three times in the first three months of 2024 after not facing each other for three years. Osaka defeated Garcia in Doha, but the Frenchwoman took the rubber match in Miami—and she had a humorous take on the fifth installment of the fast-developing franchise after the full draw was made.

"This is starting to be a classic," the Frenchwoman wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, tagging Osaka.

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Osaka herself may have even predicted it, too, last year at the China Open. Saying at the time she had a goal of being seeded for the first Grand Slam even of 2025 (one she fell short of after a back injury cut the end of her comeback season short), she name-dropped Garcia

The four-time Grand Slam champion was a welcome sight at Melbourne Park in the days ahead of the draw after she was forced to retire due to an abdominal injury in the final of the ASB Classic after winning the first set against Clara Tauson.

Smiling in practice sessions and posting a up a storm on social media with her team, including her still-new coach Patrick Mouratoglou, the two-time AO champion hopes to win a match in Melbourne for the first time since 2022.

But the reprised first-round match is noteworthy for both players, as it is also Garcia's first match since she shut down her own 2024 season in September, with the former world No. 4 revealing a recent struggle with anxiety and a "toxix mindset" as she tied her self-worth to results. Now ranked No. 58, and newly engaged to her "Tennis Insider Club" podcast co-host Borja Duran, Garcia says she hopes to find "joy" on the court in 2025 (and beyond) in the waning days of her career.

"I don’t want winning a Grand Slam or returning to the Top 5 to be my goal anymore," the 30-year-old confessed in a November follow-up post. "I want those achievements to be the outcome—the result of being happy, working hard, and continuously improving as a player and a person."

“The focus is no longer on the destination, but on embracing the journey, with all its challenges and beauty. Winning has to be the outcome, not the goal,” she added.

“I want to do it not for the trophies, not for the rankings or for my environment’s expectations or dreams, but for the person I’ll become through the process."