Naomi Osaka records first top 10 win in more than four years to reach US Open second round

CNN —

Naomi Osaka on Tuesday recorded her first win over a top 10 player in more than four years as she secured an emphatic 6-3 6-2 victory over Jelena Ostapenko in the first round of the US Open.

Osaka’s performance was as eye-catching as the giant green bow she wore as part of her outfit when walking out onto the court, dispatching No. 10 seed Ostapenko with a barrage of powerful serves.

TORONTO, ON — AUGUST 08: Naomi Osaka of Japan hits a shot against Elise Mertens of Belgium during Day 3 of the National Bank Open, part of the Hologic WTA Tour at Sobeys Stadium on August 8, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)

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Now ranked No. 88 in the world, Osaka played some of her best tennis since returning from maternity leave at the start of the season. The two-time US Open champion fired over 19 winners, including nine aces, and made just five unforced errors.

Osaka admitted she was “trying not to cry” as she walked out into Louis Armstrong, recalling what it had been like when she wasn’t able to play.

“I remember last year I was watching Coco (Gauff) play and I so badly wanted to step on these courts again and I didn’t know if I could,” she said in her on-court interview.

“I didn’t know athletically, physically if I was able to and just to win this match and just to be in this atmosphere means so much to me.”

Osaka’s return to tennis has been peppered with high points in 2024: a victory in her first match back; a first Wimbledon win since 2018; and a quarterfinal appearance at a WTA 1000 event.

However, the four-time grand slam champion has spoken this season about the