NEW YORK, 28 Aug: A year ago, still on maternity leave and still unsure when she would play elite tennis again, Naomi Osaka visited the U.S. Open to appear with Michael Phelps for a discussion about mental health. While at the site, she sat in the stands to watch one of Coco Gauff\u2019s matches.
\nOsaka also already was thinking about being back on a court at Flushing Meadows, so much so that she was pondering what she might want to wear to compete. And there she was Tuesday at Louis Armstrong Stadium, overpowering No. 10 seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 while decked out, from her visor to her dress to the bows on her back and attached to her shoes, in lime green \u2014 the color of this \u201c Brat \u201d summer, as it happens (IYKYK) \u2014 and playing very much like a two-time champion at the place and a former No. 1-ranked star.
\n\u201cI feel like being able to be a part of (designing) my tennis outfits gives me, I would say, a different strength, especially the U.S. Open outfits. I feel like they are a little bit more flamboyant. When I was putting on my outfit today, I was, like, \u2018Ah, I hope this isn\u2019t too much,\u2019\u201d Osaka said with a smile. \u201cBecause I had the tutu, and then I had the bow jacket and it was green. I feel like everyone was staring at me.\u201d
\nAnother player asked for a photo, Osaka said, adding: \u201cI hope it was a positive picture (and) it wasn\u2019t, like, \u2018Oh, my God, look at her.\u2019 For me, when I put on the outfit, it\u2019s almost like a super suit, so I try to channel that.\u201d
\nDid that well enough Tuesday to register her first victory against a top-10 opponent in more than four years.
\nOsaka claimed titles in New York in 2018 and 2020, along with a pair of trophies at the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021, and her matchup against 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko marked the first time two past major champs faced off in the opening round at the U.S. Open since Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova five years ago. Another such contest came Tuesday night, when 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin beat 2021 U.S. Open winner Emma Raducanu 6-1, 3-6, 6-4.
\n\u201cHaving two wins here means a lot, and I think for me, I\u2019ve been struggling with confidence throughout the year,\u201d said Osaka, who returned to action at the Australian Open in January, her first Grand Slam appearance in nearly 1 1\/2 years because of mental health breaks and time away to have a baby. \u201cThis time now forces me to look in the mirror and say, \u2018Hey, you\u2019ve done really well here. There\u2019s no reason why you can\u2019t do well again.\u2019\u201d
\nHow\u2019s this for doing well? Osaka did not make a single unforced error in the first set and finished with only five, 16 fewer than Ostapenko.
\n\u201cI do remember thinking, \u2018I need to win this match so I can wear my other color.\u2019 That was very important to me,\u201d said Osaka, who is ranked 88th and received a wild-card invitation from the U.S. Tennis Association. \u201cI guess you\u2019ll see my other color next time.\u201d
\nNext time will be Thursday against 2023 French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova, a 6-3, 7-5 winner against Katie Volynets of the U.S.
\nOther women moving into the second round included No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who got past Kamilla Rakhimova 6-4, 7-6 (6) by taking the last five points after needing to erase a trio of set points because she trailed 6-3 in the tiebreaker, and past major champions Elena Rybakina and Caroline Wozniacki. No. 5 Jasmine Paolini, a finalist at the French Open and Wimbledon this year, beat 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4, while No. 11 Danielle Collins\u2019 Grand Slam singles career ended with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 loss to Caroline Dolehide in an all-American matchup. The 30-year-old Collins is retiring after this season.
\nAnother American who recently announced her retirement, Shelby Rogers, lost the final match of her career by a 6-4, 6-3 score to No. 6 Jessica Pegula at night, after four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz defeated qualifier Li Tu 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Pegula meets Kenin next.
\nEarlier in Ashe, No. 1 Jannik Sinner played his first match since news came out that he was cleared in a doping case involving two failed tests in March, and while he got off to a slow start, the 23-year-old Italian quickly bounced back to eliminate Mackie McDonald 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.
\nOther seeded men advancing included No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz and No. 25 Jack Draper, but No. 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 19 Felix Auger-Aliassime both lost, as did No. 23 Karen Khachanov, who came out on the wrong end of the longest U.S. Open match, by time, since tiebreakers were instituted in 1970.
\nDan Evans snuck past Khachanov 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4 across 5 hours, 35 minutes. The final set, in which Evans trailed 4-0, took 61 minutes itself \u2014 and was the shortest set they played.
\n\u201cWhen you\u2019re a kid, you\u2019re just told to fight until the end. I mean, that\u2019s sort of Rule 1. I\u2019ve done that pretty consistently for my career,\u201d Evans said. \u201cIt sort of paid off a bit today.\u201d (AP)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK, 28 Aug: A year ago, still on maternity leave and still unsure when she would play elite tennis again, Naomi Osaka visited the U.S. Open to appear with Michael Phelps for a discussion about mental health. While at the site, she sat in the stands to watch one of Coco Gauff\u2019s matches. Osaka […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-247350","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=247350"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247350\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}