Naomi Osaka's US Open run ends - but is it a sign she's back to stay?

Yahoo Sports hosts Jason Fitz and Caroline Fenton spoke with senior writer Dan Wolken about the tennis star’s performance in this year’s tournament – advancing to her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2021 – and whether it could lead to sustaining winning again on the court.

Video Transcript

I, I found myself, I’ll be honest, I was rooting for Naomi.

I think, I don’t know why, like I was just rooting for Naomi.

But Naomi Osaka goes down to, uh, to Amanda Anisimova.

You wrote before the match that Osaka appeared to be back.

Now we get this result.

Do you question that now?

No, not at all.

And in fact, uh, what I wrote after the match, and you can go check it out at Yahoo Sports, is I think this whole run for her was not only great for Naomi Osaka; it was great for the WTA Tour and women’s tennis.

She is the one player who can move the needle in the post-Serena Williams era.

It doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of great players.

There are, uh, Iga Swiatek, Anisimova, Coco Gauff, um, Irina Sabalenka trying to defend her US Open title on Saturday.

Wonderful players, really good personalities, but Naomi just has that transcendent quality that crosses all the boundaries of sports fans and culture and entertainment.

She’s got that it factor, and she has not been the real Naomi Osaka for the last couple of years.

What she’s done this summer, got to the finals in Canada, got to the semi-finals here.

Those are really the only big results she’s had since she came back from giving birth to her daughter a couple of years ago.

And if this propels her to being regularly in the mix at the end of Grand Slams, that is going to be a huge boon for women’s tennis.

Uh, and I think ultimately, and she said it after the match, I can’t be too mad at myself, um, because, you know, I didn’t expect this.

I played really well, did all I could.

This motivates me to work harder and get better.

So I know all of tennis is hoping that she really means that.

Yeah, Naomi Osaka, the person and the player is just so easy to root for.