Naomi Osaka recorded her first victory over a top-10 player since 2020 in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday, August 27.
Osaka defeated Latvian world No 10 Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 in New York to continue her quest for success in tennis after returning to the WTA Tour in January 2024. This was following the birth of her daughter Shai the previous year.
Two-time US Open champion Osaka (2018, 2020) was a wild-card entrant into the final Grand Slam tournament of the year. She's currently ranked 88th in the world.
Osaka had a commanding presence in the match, winning 39 of 50 service points at Louis Armstrong Stadium. In addition, she committed zero double faults to Ostapenko's six. Osaka also helped her cause by playing the entire 64-minute match without a slew of mistakes. Exhibit A: Ostapenko had 21 unforced errors and Osaka had five.
On Thursday, Osaka faces 52nd-ranked Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic in the second round.
In 2023, Osaka was a US Open spectator while on maternity leave. Time away from the sport strengthened her desire to return to competition.
"I remember last year I was watching Coco [Gauff] play and I so badly wanted to step on these courts again," Osaka said after the match, BBC Sport reported. She added, "I didn't know if I could ― athletically, physically, if I was able to. Just to play this match and be in this atmosphere means so much to me, so thank you."
A Positive Outlook for Naomi Osaka Entering the US Open
Osaka gave herself a pep talk before defeating Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open women's singles winner.
"Having two wins here means a lot, and I think for me, I've been struggling with confidence throughout the year," said Osaka, referring to her past titles in the tournament, according to The Associated Press. "This time now forces me to look in the mirror and say, 'Hey, you've done really well here. There's no reason why you can't do well again.'"
Former world No 1 Osaka acknowledged that she approached this year's tournament with a vow to believe in herself on the tennis court.
"I made a promise to myself to be as confident as I can in the fact that I am who I am," Osaka said before the tournament commenced, according to the WTA Tour website.
She then said, "I feel like, for me, throughout the year I have had really hard matches, and it kind of dipped my confidence a little. [And] I wouldn't say that I played bad tennis. I just would say that I played really good players, and I also learned a lot."
Uchijima Triumphs in US Open Debut
In other tennis news, Paris Olympian Moyuka Uchijima, 23, made a winning debut at the US Open on Monday, defeating Germany's Tamara Korpatsch 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round.
Uchijima, who was born in Kuala Lumpur to a Malaysian mother and Japanese father, is ranked 64th and Korpatsch is No 111.
Also Monday, world No 53 Yoshihito Nishioka retired from his first-round match against Serbian opponent Miomir Kecmanovic due to left hamstring pain. Kecmanovic led 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 5-7, 7-5, 1-0 in the fifth set in a match that had already consumed 3 hours and 36 minutes.
RELATED:
- Olympic Roundup: Naomi Osaka Falls in the First Round of the Women's Singles Tourney
- Naomi Osaka Announces Pregnancy and Intends to Relaunch Tennis Career in 2024
Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login