Naomi Osaka shed tears after her stunning first-round victory at the US Open, and the four-time Grand Slam winner revealed afterwards what made her so emotional.
Osaka, who won the US Open in 2018 and 2020, looked like an elite player on Tuesday as she easily dispatched world No. 10 Jelena Ostapenko, 6-3, 6-2.
And the Japanese-born player, who missed all of last season on maternity leave, was overcome with emotion after advancing to the second round and earning her first top-10 win in four years.
“I mean, honestly, it’s like a combination of a lot of different things,” she told reporters after the game. “I grew up here, so just seeing the kids and then remembering my daughter, but seeing the kids come and watch me play and just remembering being a little girl, I guess a long time ago, it got me really excited.”
‘I also remember coming to see Coco (Gauff) play her semi-finals (last year) and I was in the crowd, and I didn’t know if I was going to be able to play at this level again, and just playing against Ostapenko, who is a great player, and winning that match means a lot to me.’
Naomi Osaka was emotional after beating Jelena Ostapenko in the first round of the US Open
She explained that she cried due to a variety of factors, including thinking about her daughter and seeing the children in the crowd.
“Yeah, just seeing the stadium really full meant a lot, because I was like, ‘Oh, I hope people come to see me play,'” he continued.
Osaka, who has not made it past the third round of a Grand Slam since winning the 2021 Australian Open, even admitted she cried more on Tuesday than she did after winning her Grand Slams.
“The first US Open I won, I played against (Aryna) Sabalenka in the round of 16. I remember crying a lot after that, because I had the barrier of not being able to go to the round of 16 or the quarterfinals. I think it was in the round of 16,” she began.
“Yeah, it’s funny, but I feel like I cried a lot more now than when I won Grand Slams. It’s kind of funny.”
It’s been a tough few years for Osaka, who has been open about her struggles with depression. She also saw her ranking fall to 88th before this tournament and was given a wild card after failing to qualify for the Cincinnati Open.
She described that moment as essentially the lowest point of her career, and perhaps she will thrive in New York with fewer expectations on her shoulders.
Osaka, 26, has been open about her struggles with mental health in recent years.
“I’m very happy to have played all the tournaments this year, even though the results have not been very good, I feel that I was able to take advantage of each of those matches,” she said.
“Over time, I know that even though I lost in qualifying in Cincinnati, I gained confidence in myself in a strange way, because for me, that was the worst possible result in my career. It’s true that I could have lost in the previous round.
‘But yes, I don’t know, it’s been a lot of work, a lot of dreams and desires, and I hope to be able to continue.’
She will try to prove the same against Karolina Muchova on Thursday.
