Naomi Osaka’s confidence boosted by nostalgic return to New York for US Open

NEW YORK – For Naomi Osaka, returning to the US Open is all about rekindling some childhood nostalgia rather than going back to the scene of her success, the Japanese player said on Aug 24.

Since returning to action in January after a 15-month maternity break, Osaka has struggled to recapture the form that earned her the US Open title in 2018 and 2020. In her most recent outing, she went out in the second round of qualifying at the Cincinnati Open.

Born in Japan but raised in New York, Osaka will hope for a better return to the US Open than she had in Australia, where she had also won twice, going out at the first hurdle to Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia.

“I feel like, throughout the year, I have had really hard matches, and it kind of ripped my confidence a little,” the 26-year-old told reporters on Aug 24.

“I do think coming to this specific tournament helps me out. But also, whenever I step foot here, I don’t really think about the two tournaments I won.

“I just think about how I felt when I was a kid, because I did grow up coming here, and I have such vivid memories of watching my favourite players. It’s more of a childhood nostalgia that I really enjoy.”

Osaka was also at Flushing Meadows as a spectator in 2023, and drew inspiration from Coco Gauff’s home win, and wants to put in her best performance here after failing to advance past the second round at both Wimbledon and the French Open in 2024.

“When I was watching Coco’s match last time I was here, I felt very inspired to play again. At that time, I didn’t know at what level could I play,” said Osaka, who faces Latvian 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open winner, on Aug 27.

“Obviously I want to be in the top 10 and I want to do all these things, but I still, in the back of my mind, remember not being able to run, if that makes sense, or not being able to do a sit-up.

“But I came here with the specific goal of doing the absolute best that I can. I was watching in the stands last year and I promised myself, this is going to be the tournament where I do the best.”

Also enduring a worrying dip in form in recent weeks is defending women’s champion Gauff.

A stormy third-round exit from the Olympics was followed by early defeats in Toronto and Cincinnati, raising doubts over whether the American could become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2014 to successfully defend her US Open crown.

However, the 20-year-old views her opening-round loss at Cincinnati as a positive, as she found time to focus on her training.

“I feel like it was a blessing in disguise I lost so early, because I was able to actually train, which I hadn’t been able to,” said Gauff, who takes on Varvara Gracheva of France on Aug 26.

“I do my best results when I come off a training block. I was able to train for a good week and a half and obviously still have a couple more days to do that.

“The last couple of practices have gone really well which before, like during Cincinnati wasn’t having great practices, in Toronto wasn’t having great practices. Here I’m having great practices which doesn’t mean I’m going to go out on the match and play great, but it does give you more confidence when you’re actually practising great the week before a tournament.”

Another way to go into a tournament with belief is to actually be on a winning streak, something Aryna Sabalenka has on her side following her Cincinnati triumph.

The 26-year-old Belarusian, the Australian Open champion and runner-up to Gauff in New York in 2023, is another contender in a wide-open field that also features five-time Major winner and world No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

The Pole, 23, said she has different expectations at this US Open, in contrast to her title defence which was dashed in 2023 after the pressure got to her.

“Last year, I felt I had many things to defend, like the world No. 1 position, all my points, and also the title itself,” said Swiatek, who will meet Kamilla Rakhimova on Aug 27.

“I felt like I had a lot of baggage on my shoulders. This year, it’s a little bit different. This year, I’m just trying to focus on what should I do tennis-wise to play the best game possible.

“My expectations are not as high compared to last year. I’m going to try to focus on getting everything step by step.” REUTERS, AFP