NEW YORK – Japan’s former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka on Saturday said her overwhelming feeling was gratitude after reaching the U.S. Open round of 16 and making her deepest run at a major since returning from maternity leave.
Osaka overcame Australian 15th seed Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 4-6, 6-3 to secure her first fourth-round appearance at a Grand Slam since the 2021 Australian Open, which she went on to win.
“I think the first feeling that I feel right now is that I’m very tired,” the four-time major winner said in her post-match press conference.
“The second one is that I’m just very grateful to be here again. I think when I was younger, I kind of expected myself to win. In a way, doing press after winning a match was kind of a routine, but now I’ve experienced so many tough losses, I’m just happy to be smiling at a press conference.”
The 27-year-old, playing her eighth major since giving birth, said she resolved to “not even think about results anymore and just try to focus on every match by itself” following her third-round exit from Wimbledon in July.
Osaka said she was pleased with her subsequent progress, including a runner-up performance at the Montreal Open, and spoke highly of new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.
“I’m definitely pleased,” she said. “I think Tomasz has been really cool to work with, too, so as a journey, it’s not something I really pictured, but I’m glad to be living it.”
The No. 23 seed’s victory over Kasatkina sets up a tantalizing last-16 battle against American third seed Coco Gauff on Monday.
The star pair accounts for three of the past seven U.S. Open women’s singles titles, with Osaka winning in 2018 and 2020, and Gauff victorious in 2023.
Osaka was a straight-sets winner against a teenage Gauff in the American’s 2019 U.S. Open debut and said she had predicted big things at the time for the now 21-year-old.
“My recollections of that were just knowing that she was going to be a really great tennis player (and) I was right,” Osaka said.
“I thought she just handled herself really well, and I knew she was going to be back. Now to be playing against her again after six years — I don’t know if it makes me old — but just to be at this point of my life, and to be playing her again feels special.”
AloJapan.com