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…
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