A resounding win for the vibrantly dressed Naomi Osaka kicked off what many hope to be a comeback campaign at this year’s US Open.
Naomi Osaka was in blistering form, with shotmaking nostalgic of her title-runs of yesteryear.
Bruising past former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko with no unforced errors in the opening set, Osaka was serene and supreme in Louis Armstrong stadium.
The two-time US Open champion was awarded a wildcard into the main draw and after Osaka’s beating of Ons Jabeur in Toronto, she was always going to be a frightening opening match for someone.
Tenth seed Ostapenko couldn’t do much to stop the four-time major winner, with her power and consistency proving too strong.
With a lack of consistency historically being Osaka’s undoing, while still early in her latest return to tennis, if she maintains this level there is no saying how far she might go.
Naomi Osaka explains why she was so emotional after her US Open victory
Upon victory, a seemingly overwhelmed Osaka buried her head in her towel and through tears thanked the thrilled crowd.
Later in her press conference she was asked if she’d ever been so emotional after a victory.
Osaka responded: “You know, I would say yes, and it was probably on the same exact court, so maybe it’s that court that does something to me,” she suggested.
“The first US Open that I won, I played Sabalenka in the round of 16. I remember I cried really hard after that, because I was having my, like, barrier of I couldn’t get to the round of 16 or the quarters. I think it was the round of 16 though. Yeah, it’s funny, though, I feel like I cried a lot more now than I did, like, winning slams. That’s a little funny.”
The former number one was asked to elaborate, with reporters querying exactly what had tipped Osaka over the edge.
“Honestly it’s like a combination of a lot of different things,” she explained. “I grew up here, so just seeing kids, and then remembering my daughter, but seeing kids coming and watching me play and just remembering that I was a kid, I guess a long time ago, made me very emotional.
“Then also just remembering that I came and watched Coco [Gauff] play her semis, and I was in the audience and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play again at this level, and just to play Ostapenko who is such a great player and win that match means a lot to me.
“Yeah, just seeing the stadium really full, it meant a lot, because I was, like, oh, I hope people come watch me play.”
Naomi Osaka faces another tough US Open test in round two
Another enterprising and dynamic talent waits in the second round with Czechia’s Karolina Muchova managing to get through her opener.
A former semi-finalist at Flushing, Muchova has experienced a similar season to Osaka in terms of patchy form and fewer matches.
Out with injury for much of the year, Muchova returned in June and will also be looking to get back to her best in New York.
Osaka’s ability to beat top players but later struggle against slightly lower ranked opponents again doesn’t help much prediction-wise, with Muchova a player well better than her current ranking of 34.
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