NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka walked off the court, headed toward the locker room and laid down, draping a towel over her face. Outhit in Arthur Ashe Stadium by another big hitter, Danielle Collins, two-time US Open champion Osaka was left to contemplate a second consecutive first-round loss at a Grand Slam tournament.
Collins reached her first major final at the Australian Open in January and displayed that same sort of hard-court talent with a 7-6 (5), 6-3 victory over Osaka in a shotmaking showdown that ended after Tuesday turned to Wednesday at Flushing Meadows.
“I’m the type of person that thinks a lot, to the point where I overthink. Sometimes when I play matches, I have to tell myself to stop thinking, just go more on instinct,” said Osaka, who has been bothered by a bad back lately. “I feel like I just have to chill a little bit, because there’s a lot of like random chaos in my head right now.”
Last season, Osaka took two extended mental health breaks, including after her third-round exit in New York. This season, Osaka lost in the third round in Australia and the first round at the French Open, then sat out Wimbledon.
“Lately, I felt really restrained. I’m not really sure why,” Osaka said. “I’m beginning to feel like I can’t hit the shots that I know I can, like especially on my forehand. I don’t know if it’s a matter of practicing more or something like that. I just don’t have the same feeling.”
She is now ranked 44th, which means she could have been drawn to face anyone in the first round.
This was the sort of matchup Osaka used to dominate on this surface — and against this particular player. Osaka won the US Open in 2018 and 2020 and the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021 and she entered the night 3-0 against Collins, taking every set they had contested with each other.
But Collins, a Floridian seeded 19th at the US Open, took time off the tour starting in July for a training block after being hampered by a bad neck, and that work clearly paid off.
“Felt like her plan was to immediately put me in defense, so she would have hit the ball no matter what type of ball I hit on her side of the court. I thought she did that pretty well,” Osaka said. “I think that’s kind of what she’s known for — to be extremely aggressive.”
Earlier Tuesday, the top seed in the women’s draw, Iga Swiatek, powered into the second round with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Jasmine Paolini.
Swiatek is trying to become the first player since Serena Williams in 2014 to win seven…
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