WHAT HAPPENED: Returning to the court upon which she captured her first Grand Slam title in 2018, No. 4 seed Naomi Osaka survived an all-Japanese showdown with Misaki Doi, winning, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, on opening night at the US Open.
Only days prior, Osaka had withdrawn from her Western & Southern Open final against Victoria Azarenka due to a left hamstring ailment. There wasn’t much time for recovery, but the 22-year-old raced along the baseline on Monday in Arthur Ashe Stadium, showing few, if any, signs of the injury. However, she struggled to find consistency for much of the match.
“It was very difficult,” said Osaka. “I kind of expected it—first-round nerves and I know she’s a tough opponent.”
Osaka, who took the court with ‘BREONNA TAYLOR’ printed across her mask, a callout to the Louisville woman who was fatally shot by police in March, looked determined early on. She broke her 29-year-old Fed Cup teammate in the third game of the opening set, and added another service break four games later.
The 5-foot-3 Doi, not necessarily known as a power player, returned the favor in the second set, going toe-to-toe with her opponent from the baseline and surging ahead, 3-0. Osaka managed to bring the set back on serve at 5-all, but a series of low-percentage shots soon steered the match into a decisive third set.
Opening the third set with her fourth break of the night, Osaka seemed to reestablish herself. At the two-hour mark, she stepped up to serve out the match, fortunate to survive a spirited challenge from her countrywoman.
Doi was seeking her first tour-level triumph of the year, as well as her first-ever Top-10 win, having come into the match with a 0-5 record on the season. But forced to play a power brand of tennis, she often found herself error-prone. Both Doi and Osaka would finish with 38 unforced errors.
Asked afterward if she will continue to wear her Breonna Taylor mask throughout the fortnight, Osaka said, "No, I have seven. It’s quite sad that seven masks isn’t enough for all the amount of names. Hopefully, I’ll get to the final and you can see all of them."
WHAT IT MEANS: Osaka will need to regroup for her next opponent, Italy’s Camila Giorgi, who also needed three sets to get past Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck, 2-6, 6-1, 7-5. Osaka prevailed in their only previous encounter in Tokyo in 2018. “[Giorgi’s] very unpredictable. I’m going to have to be on my toes.”
MATCH POINT: Osaka began working with a new coach, Wim Fisette, at the beginning of the 2020 season. Her previous coaches include Sascha Bajin and Jermaine Jenkins.
