NEW YORK – Naomi Osaka is set to compete in the U.S. Open for the first time in two years, expressing on Saturday that returning to the venue where she has won two of her four Grand Slam titles gives her a boost. However, this renewed energy is not derived from her past successes but rather from her childhood memories as a fan in New York.
“I don’t really think about that. I think more about how it was when I came here as a child to watch all the famous players that you could mention, like Rafael Nadal, Serena and Venus Williams, and Maria Sharapova,” said the 26-year-old Osaka, who was born in Japan to a Japanese mother and a Haitian father but moved to New York at the age of three. “I mean, coming to this specific tournament really helps me. But I don’t think much about the two tournaments I won here.”
Osaka won the U.S. Open in 2018 and 2020, as well as the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021, and she has previously been ranked as the number 1 player in the world. However, she has faced injuries resulting from breaks—first due to mental health issues and later after giving birth. So far this season, she has had a mixed record with 18 wins and 15 losses, placing her at number 85 in the world rankings.
She will face the 10th-seeded Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion, on Tuesday in Flushing Meadows.
Last year, Osaka attended the U.S. Open, where she watched some matches and participated in a discussion about mental health alongside Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. After being eliminated in the qualifying rounds of the Cincinnati Open earlier this month, she shared on social media about her struggles with losses and her feelings of confusion regarding her performance.
“My biggest problem right now is not about the losses; my biggest problem is that I don’t feel like I’m in my body. It’s a strange feeling to lose points that I shouldn’t lose and to hit the ball softer than I remember doing before. I’m trying to tell myself, ‘It’s fine, you’re doing well, just get through this and keep going.’ Mentally, it’s really draining,” she explained. “Internally, I’m screaming, ‘What … is happening?!?!’”
She also described her situation as “postpartum,” indicating that everything feels almost entirely new for her. The challenges of switching between different surfaces, from the red clay at the French Open to grass at Wimbledon and now back to hard court for the U.S. Open, have also affected her performance.
“I feel that throughout the year I’ve had really tough matches, and that has slightly impacted my confidence,” said Osaka. “I wouldn’t say I was playing bad tennis; I was just playing against really good players.” Her candid shares on social media help her gain clarity in her thoughts.
“It’s like speaking your words into the universe and then letting them go,” Osaka added. “When you see it, you’re just kind of free from the thoughts that disturb your mind.”
Now she feels that she is “much better now” and has been training “at a really high level.”
“I hope,” said Osaka, “that I’ll also be able to play matches at a really high level.”