By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer
NEW YORK — A year ago, still on maternity leave and still unsure when she would play elite tennis again, Naomi Osaka visited the U.S. Open to appear with Michael Phelps for a discussion about mental health. While at the site, she sat in the stands to watch one of Coco Gauff’s matches.
Osaka also already was thinking about being back on a court at Flushing Meadows, so much so that she was pondering what she might want to wear to compete. And there she was Tuesday at Louis Armstrong Stadium, overpowering No. 10 seed Jelena Ostapenko, 6-3, 6-2, while decked out, from her visor to her dress to the bows on her back and attached to her shoes, in lime green – the color of this “Brat” summer, as it happens (IYKYK) – and playing very much like a two-time champion at the place and a former top-ranked star.
“I feel like being able to be a part of (designing) my tennis outfits gives me, I would say, a different strength, especially the U.S. Open outfits. I feel like they are a little bit more flamboyant. When I was putting on my outfit today, I was, like, ‘Ah, I hope this isn’t too much,’” Osaka said with a smile. “Because I had the tutu, and then I had the bow jacket and it was green. I feel like everyone was staring at me.”
Another player asked for a photo, Osaka said, adding: “I hope it was a positive picture (and) it wasn’t, like, ‘Oh, my God, look at her.’ For me, when I put on the outfit, it’s almost like a super suit, so I try to channel that.”
She did that well enough Tuesday to register her first victory against a top-10 opponent in more than four years.
Osaka claimed titles in New York in 2018 and 2020, along with a pair of trophies at the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021, and her matchup against 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko marked the first time two past major champs faced off in the opening round at the U.S. Open since Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova five years ago.
“Having two wins here means a lot, and I think for me, I’ve been struggling with confidence throughout the year,” said Osaka, who returned to action at the Australian Open in January, her first Grand Slam appearance in nearly 1½ years because of mental health breaks and time away to have a baby. “This time now forces me to look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, you’ve done really well here. There’s no reason why you can’t do well again.’”
How’s this for doing well? Osaka did not make a single unforced error in the first set and finished with only five, 16 fewer than Ostapenko.
“I do remember thinking, ‘I need to win this match so I can wear my other color.’ That was very important to me,” said Osaka, who is ranked 88th and received a wild-card invitation from the U.S. Tennis Association. “I guess you’ll see my other color next time.”
The next time will be Thursday against 2023 French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova, a 6-3, 7-5 winner against American Katie Volynets.
Other women moving into the second round included top-seeded Iga Swiatek, who got past Kamilla Rakhimova, 6-4, 7-6 (6), by taking the last five points after needing to erase a trio of set points because she trailed 6-3 in the tiebreaker, and past major champions Elena Rybakina and Caroline Wozniacki. But No. 11 Danielle Collins’ Grand Slam singles career ended with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-4 loss to Caroline Dolehide in an all-American matchup.
The 30-year-old Collins, who was ranked as high as No. 7, surprised the tennis world when she revealed she would be retiring at season’s end. The two-time NCAA singles champion reached the final of the 2022 Australian Open and has won four WTA titles in her career, including two – in Miami and Charleston – following her announcement this year.
Another American who recently announced her retirement, Shelby Rogers, was scheduled to face No. 6 Jessica Pegula at night.
Third-seeded Carlos Alcaraz dropped the second set of his first-round match before the 2022 U.S. Open champ restored order to beat Australian qualifier Li Tu, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Earlier in Ashe, top-seeded Jannik Sinner played his first match since news came out that he was cleared in a doping case involving two failed tests in March, and while he got off to a slow start, the 23-year-old Italian quickly bounced back to eliminate Mackie McDonald, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2.
“The response from fans, I feel it has been great. Also throughout, when the news came out, in the practice sessions, there was a lot of support, which I’m very glad and happy about,” Sinner said. “It is still a little bit not easy. You have to go through, day by day.”
There were no apparent signs in the stands or disparaging shouts making reference to what no one knew about for months: Sinner tested positive twice for trace amounts of the anabolic steroid Clostebol in an eight-day span in March.
Other seeded men advancing included No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz and No. 25 Jack Draper, but No. 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 19 Felix Auger-Aliassime both lost, as did No. 23 Karen Khachanov, who came out on the wrong end of the longest U.S. Open match, by time, since tiebreakers were instituted in 1970.
Dan Evans snuck past Khachanov, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (2), 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-4, across 5 hours, 35 minutes. The final set, in which Evans trailed 4-0, took 61 minutes itself – and was the shortest set they played.
A few hours into the match, Evans said he glanced over at the scoreboard. Not to see how he was doing, but to clarify exactly how long he had been playing.
“In the fourth set, I had to check the set to see what set we were in,” Evans said. “I wasn’t entirely sure what set we were in.”
The final point of the match, fittingly, was a marathon 22-shot rally, with Evans on the defensive for much of the point before hitting a hard shot to the corner that Khachanov couldn’t get back over the net with his backhand.
The previous record was 5 hours, 26 minutes, when Stefan Edberg beat Michael Chang in a five-setter in the 1992 semifinals.
“I was hurting all over, really,” said the 34-year-old Evans, who was grabbing at his lower legs and resting his hands on his knees in the final set.
“I don’t think I’ve played five hours, that long, in a day, ever – in two sessions, never mind in one. I was actually thinking that on the court. I’ve never practiced two hours, two hours. It’s normally an hour and a half.”
Evans improved to 5-0 against Khachanov, a semifinalist at the 2022 U.S. Open, by emerging in a match in which the sets lasted 68, 67, 72, 67 and 61 minutes.
The British player who played doubles with Andy Murray at the Olympics in the three-time Grand Slam champion’s final tournament finished with a 201-191 edge in total points. He advanced to play Mariano Navone of Argentina in the second round.
Evans has battled injuries in a difficult 2024. He arrived at Flushing Meadows just 4-17 this season, and said the fight he showed Tuesday should help restore some confidence that he had lost.
He just wished it would have come more quickly.
“Yeah, I don’t really want to do that again,” he said, “that’s for sure.”
AP sports writer Brian Mahoney contributed to this story.
