Osaka was back in the spotlight only six months after giving birth to her first child, daughter Shai, having not played on the WTA circuit for 15 months.
The Japanese, who was an Australian Open winner in 2019 and 2021, however was brushed aside by 16th seed Garcia 6-4 7-6 (7-2).
Osaka said she had no regrets about competing so soon after maternity leave, having only returned to tennis a fortnight ago.
“I don’t regret anything,” Osaka said. “I think I’ve learned a lot during this trip, both on the court and off the court. Also I just played some really good people.
“I felt like I did the best that I could possibly do. It was just really nice to be on Rod Laver (Arena) again, hear the audience, how much they interacted with the match. That was fun.
“Of course I have to tell myself, ‘Hey, like six months ago you were pregnant’, stuff like that. Of course, there’s a voice in my head that is, ‘Who are you to think you can come back and immediately start winning matches?’ I don’t know.
“I kind of always expect myself to stand a chance anyways. So I guess just being nicer to myself is like a key thing that I learned in my time away.”
Given Osaka had returned only a fortnight ago, defeating the high-ranked Frenchwoman, who was a 2022 US Open semi-finalist, was always going to be an uphill battle.
Osaka revealed that her daughter gave her inspiration during the match.
“I talk to and I think about Shai a lot,” she said. “Before my match, I got sent a video of her. She wasn’t obviously saying good luck, but I got a video of someone saying, Shai says good luck.
“It was really cute. It made me happy and motivated, but at the same time a little frustrated because I felt like I should do better with the time I had away from her.Yeah, hopefully I get there one day, though.”
The 26-year-old Japanese was valiant in defeat on Rod Laver Arena on Monday night, earning Garcia’s praise.
“I have a lot of respect for Naomi as a person and as a player - 15 months she’s been away,” Garcia said.
“I’m very glad to see her back. Six months after giving birth, she’s playing quite amazing already. We have to watch out.”