Naomi Osaka did not disappoint in her return to the U.S. Open.
Competing at Flushing Meadows for the first time since giving birth 13 months ago, the two-time U.S. Open winner cruised past 10th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko 6-3, 6-2 at Louis Armstrong Stadium on Tuesday afternoon to advance to the second round.
With a lively, packed crowd behind her, Osaka froze and looked to the sky as she clinched the winning point in a match that lasted an hour and four minutes.
“Just to win this match and to be in this atmosphere means so much to me,” a teary-eyed Osaka said in her on-court interview afterward.
Dressed in a lime green Nike outfit with shoes and a visor to match, Osaka dominated the star-powered matchup with a clean performance and a serve she dialed up around 120 mph.
Osaka did not participate in the U.S. Open last year while she was on maternity leave. Once ranked No. 1, Osaka entered the U.S. Open as the world’s No. 88 player and as a wild card in the tournament in Queens.
But it took little time for Osaka to establish herself as the better player Tuesday.
She won the first game of the opening set with four consecutive points.
She won the final three games of the first set and the first two of the next, with the crowd getting louder with each successive victory.
She recorded nine aces.
Osaka, 26, won her first U.S. Open title in 2018, when she defeated Serena Williams in the final in straight sets.
She won again in 2020, beating Veronica Azarenka in three sets, but has not advanced past the third round since. Osaka was eliminated in the first round by Danielle Collins in 2022 in her last appearance at Flushing Meadows Corona Park.
The Japanese-born Osaka did not compete on the tour last year while she was on maternity leave.
She attended the 2023 U.S. Open as a fan, watching from the stands as eventual tournament champion Coco Gauff defeated Karolina Muchova in the semifinal.
“At that time, I didn’t know at what level could I play,” Osaka said last week at her pre-U.S. Open press conference. “I promised myself this is going to be the tournament where I do the best.”
In her return this year, Osaka was eliminated in the first round at the Australian Open and in the second round at the French Open and Wimbledon.
Earlier this month, Osaka was eliminated during qualifying at the Cincinnati Open, prompting a poignant Instagram post in which she said she didn’t “feel like I’m in my body” 11 months after giving birth.
She entered Tuesday with an 18-15 record in match play this season.
“I came here with the specific goal of doing the absolute best that I can,” Osaka said of the U.S. Open. “It’s a really incredible feeling to be back here.”
