Shortly after giving birth to her daughter Shai in July 2023, Naomi Osaka returned to the US Open. Her comeback to the Arthur Ashe Stadium, and a court where she had lifted two of her four grand slam singles titles, was to sit in the stands and watch Coco Gauff play Karolina Muchova in the semi-finals. As Gauff advanced on her way to winning the US Open, Osaka set herself a target: she was determined to reach that stage again.
“Maybe I’m crazy or something, but I always feel like you have to imagine it, and then you have to believe it for it to actually come true,” Osaka said on Monday after defeating Gauff 6-3 6-2 to return to her first grand slam quarter-final in four years. “But you’re also speaking to the kid that visualised playing Serena [Williams] too. So I feel like there’s a lot of power in dreaming and believing.”
Naomi Osaka achieved her best grand slam result since 2021 by reaching the quarter-finals (Getty Images)
For a while, though, it has felt as if the reality of Osaka’s comeback had fallen short of her imagination. There were often some flashes of the former World No 1’s power and the quality of her ball-striking, but not the consistency to improve her ranking enough to avoid difficult draws in the early rounds of major events. At No 88 in the world, she ran into Muchova in the second round at last year’s US Open, had set points to force a third, but went down 6-3 7-6(5) to the eventual semi-finalist.
Advertisement
“I think for me I was really frustrated for a long time because I felt like I was playing well,” Osaka said. “But there was just something that I don’t know if I was missing or it was just a mentality thing.”
A turning point came in Montreal in July after Osaka saved two match points to defeat Liudmila Samsonova on her favoured hard-courts. By then, Osaka had also hired Tomasz Wiktorowski, the former coach of four of Iga Swiatek’s five titles, and the 27-year-old took confidence in how she was able to compete and last in rallies due to her improved fitness and the accumulation of more time spent on court. “I think from that moment on I just tried to be the biggest fighter that I can be,” she said.
Osaka reached the final in Montreal and although she lost to Victoria Mboko the result was enough for her to be seeded for the US Open. A fourth-round clash with Gauff was pencilled in and if there were any doubts over which player would make it, it was due to the 21-year-old Gauff’s struggles with her serve and form after winning the French Open.
Osaka made short work of Gauff, who made 33 unforced errors and won just six points on the return of serve. After previously feeling like she was in a rush to pick up from where she left off, Osaka played with a “silent confidence” that allowed her to be patient and for the opportunities to come to her.
Naomi Osaka was in the stands two years ago watching Coco Gauff on her way to winning the US Open (Getty Images)
“I think physically in my head I know that I’m capable of rallying a lot, so I don’t overplay,” she explained. “I kind of am okay with just waiting. Granted, I’m not a defensive player, so it’s not like I’m trying to move side-to-side, but it’s more like the silent confidence of understanding that I don’t need to hit a winner at all times.”
Advertisement
Part of it is the impact of Wiktorowski, a coach Osaka thought was a “tough guy” but who is really just a “teddy bear”, and the safe space she feels to express herself. But Osaka, too, has returned to the US Open in a more positive frame of mind. She spoke of feeling “relaxed” and “grateful” to be back on the big stage.
“I don’t feel stressed at all,” she said. “I think for me I just wanted to have a better year than last year, and I already did that in Montreal. For me, whatever happens the rest of this tournament, the rest of Asia, I’m just trying to be a better tennis player and learn from every match that I play.”
As Osaka prepares to once again face Muchova, she could not avoid being reminded of a certain statistic that may point to the Japanese star going all the way in New York: every time Osaka has reached the quarter-finals of a grand slam tournament, she has gone on to win the title. With wins at the 2019 and 2021 Australian Open and the 2018 and 2020 US Open, Osaka has never lost from the quarter-final stage.
But that was then, and Osaka has clear that the key to her second breakthrough in New York is appreciating the moment. “This is kind of unchartered territory at this point of my career,” she said. “I don’t know. I’m just enjoying it. I’m having fun. I’m being able to play against the best players in the world.”
AloJapan.com