NEW YORK — One year ago, Naomi Osaka sat in the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium and watched Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova battle for a spot in the US Open final. From her seat, she privately wished she could be back out on the court playing again.
She was just months removed from giving birth to her daughter, Shai, and had recently returned to conditioning training, but questioned whether she would ever be able to return to her previous form. A four-time major champion, including two titles at the US Open, Osaka was then two years removed from winning a match in Queens, and she couldn’t silence the self-doubt.
But on Tuesday, she did just that.
Facing No. 10 seed and 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the first round, Osaka — who is currently ranked No. 88 and needed a wild card for entry — played perhaps her best match since returning to the tour in January, with a dominant 6-3, 6-2 victory in front of an adoring crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium. When it was over, after just 64 minutes, the 26-year-old Osaka was visibly emotional and repeatedly wiped away tears.
“I grew up here, so just seeing kids, and then remembering my daughter, but seeing kids coming and watching me play … [it] made me very emotional,” Osaka said later. “Then also just remembering that I came and watched Coco 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.”
It was her first top-10 win in over four years.
On Thursday, amid a roller-coaster season, Osaka will have the opportunity to play Muchova, who herself recently returned from extended time away with a wrist injury, with a chance to reach her first third round at the tournament since 2021.
“Having two [titles] here means a lot, and I think for me, I’ve been struggling with confidence throughout the year, and this time now forces me to look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, you’ve done really well here,'” Osaka said Tuesday.
“‘There’s no reason you can’t do well again.'”
When Osaka announced she was pregnant ahead of the 2023 Australian Open and would be missing the season, many wondered if she would ever return to the game. Her struggles on the court had been well documented, and she hadn’t won a title in almost two years. She had talked about the toll that success had taken on her mental health and the pressure she felt to always win.
But when training videos began to surface last fall, it became clear just how seriously she was taking her comeback. And when she sat down with ESPN in December, she couldn’t help but share her enthusiasm and new perspective.
“It definitely feels much different [now],” Osaka said. “It feels like I have a sense of responsibility for my daughter. But also I’m very happy at the same time. I’m super excited [to be back].”
But the season hasn’t been what she had hoped. She won her first match back in Brisbane but then fell in her next match, as well as in her opener at the Australian Open. There were flashes of promise, though. She reached the quarterfinals in Qatar in February and narrowly lost to former world No. 1 Karolina Pliskova, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), for a spot in the semis. But on the hard courts — her preferred surface — of Indian Wells and Miami, she fell in the round of 32 in both events.
Osaka dedicated herself to the clay more than she had in years and advanced to the round of 16 at the Italian Open. At the French Open, she looked poised to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the season against No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek in a memorable second-round showdown. She ultimately lost 7-6 (7), 1-6, 7-5, but she reminded the world what she was capable of.
And it made her eager for what was to come.
“I feel like I played her on her better surface,” Osaka said after the match. “I’m a hard-court kid, so I would love to play her on my surface and see what happens. Yeah, I also said in Australia that I’m kind of setting myself up for September anyway.”
First, of course, she had to get through the grass season — she reached the second round at Wimbledon — and then the return to clay for the Olympics, where she fell in her opener. She was undoubtedly relieved to return to North America for the hard-court season, but lost in her second-round match in Toronto and then couldn’t advance through qualifying in Cincinnati. In an Instagram post, she said she didn’t feel like herself on court.
“My biggest issue currently isn’t losses though, my biggest issue is that I don’t feel like I’m in my body,” she wrote. “It’s a strange feeling, missing balls I shouldn’t miss, hitting balls softer than I remember I used to. I try and tell myself, ‘It’s fine, you’re doing great, just get through this one and keep pushing.’ Mentally it’s really draining though. Internally I hear myself screaming, ‘What the hell is happening?!?!'”
Naomi Osaka captures the first set over No. 10 seed Ostapenko! pic.twitter.com/0D67S6LNdB
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) August 27, 2024
On Tuesday, it certainly didn’t look like she was struggling against Ostapenko. Instead everything — finally — appeared to be clicking. Wearing a custom, and instantly viral, “brat” green outfit adorned with ruffles and bows, Osaka had 19 winners to just five unforced errors. She was never broken and won 39 of her 50 service points. It was as clinical and masterful a performance as she’s had since returning.
Osaka will have to do that again Thursday against Muchova if she wants to continue her run in New York. The two have played twice before, and each has won once with both matches going three sets. Muchova is unseeded following her 10-month absence from competition, but when she’s at her best, which she appeared to be during her victory over Katie Volynets on Tuesday, she is one of the most dangerous and athletic players on tour. (As evidenced by a mind-blowing behind-the-back lob point from Tuesday’s match). In addition to reaching the semis in New York last year, she also played in the final at the French Open last season and advanced to the semifinals at the Australian Open in 2021. She too knows what it takes to go deep at majors and surely would like to return to that stage.
That might just be the exact opponent Osaka would want to play. She acknowledged Tuesday that she tends to play her best tennis against the game’s top players and that her mindset is different entering those matches.
“I’m not sure if it’s motivation or if I feel like I have no other choice but to play well,” Osaka said. “And then it gets rid of all the expectations and all the pressure I put on myself, because I know, like, no matter what, the tennis is going to be really great tennis, even if I win or lose.”