Osaka, Naomi (1997- )

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      Mardy Fish Can Relate to What Naomi Osaka Is Going Through

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      Anxiety forced Fish to withdraw from the 2012 U.S. Open. Now he is open about his mental health and works with the U.S.T.A. to provide more resources for players.The fourth-round singles matches at the U.S. Open were underway on Sunday, and Mardy Fish, the Davis Cup captain and former tennis star, was remembering the moment nine years ago in New York when he sat in the car sobbing with his wife, Stacey, and decided, with her help, that he could not play in the fourth round against Roger Federer.“It was just crazy anxiety, crazy, crazy, just how am I going to walk out on this court?” he said by telephone from his home in Los Angeles. “But it never, never would have crossed my mind, if my wife wasn’t there with me, that I wouldn’t play. We’re so trained to never show weakness, never show fear, to the other side of the court. But my wife saying, ‘Well, you don’t have to play’ — that part right there was like, right away, just instantly, I felt better, like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.”Fish is now 39, a parent with Stacey of two young children. He works in finance and is still involved in professional tennis as the U.S. Davis Cup captain. But he is also a mentor, sharing his experience as a prominent athlete who had to deal with mental health problems when the subject was close to taboo in professional sports.“The reason why I’m so vocal or open about it now is that I didn’t have that success story to lean on when I was going through it,” he said.He is friendly with Naomi Osaka and her agent Stuart Duguid, and empathized when Osaka announced tearfully on Friday after her third-round defeat at the U.S. Open that she planned to take an indefinite break from the game that no longer brings her joy, even when she wins.“I would tell her, do whatever makes you happy,” Fish said. “She doesn’t have to hit another tennis ball the rest of her life, and if that makes her happy, that’s what she should do. I think she would regret that, but it’s whatever makes her want to get up in the morning and be happy. And whatever she’s been doing for the last couple months, or however long it’s been, is not doing that for her right now. So hopefully she finds peace and comfort.”Fish spent months housebound with repeated anxiety attacks after his withdrawal in New York. He received therapy and medication.After playing intermittently on tour, he returned to the U.S. Open in 2015 and won a round. It was the upbeat closure that he desired and is part of the journey he shares in a documentary that will be released on Tuesday as part of the Netflix “Untold” series.“To educate is really the most important thing,” Fish said. “To try to reach people that have never understood mental health or had issues with it or people around them who have had issues with it. To just educate them and just understand that Naomi Osaka is not going to pull out of the French Open just because she doesn’t want to talk to the press. And Simone Biles is not going to compete in the Olympics just because she doesn’t want to lose. The people that think that, and there are lots of them, it’s just unfortunate.”For Fish, one of the keys is to stop regarding mental health as separate from physical health.“It’s just health,” Fish said. “They call it mental health, but your brain is part of your body. It’s an injury. You just can’t see it.”Long considered one of the most talented players of his era, Fish improved his fitness and broke through in 2011 to reach the top 10 and qualify for the eight-man tour championships. But he said his rise also created new expectations and stresses.“My life changed, for the better initially, and then just my body and brain, the way I’m put together, couldn’t handle it,” he said.In 2012, he began experiencing a racing heartbeat that would wake him in the middle of the night and was diagnosed as a form of arrhythmia. Though he was treated for the condition, the underlying issue was an anxiety disorder, and while playing tennis was a refuge, he also began experiencing panic during his third-round win over Gilles Simon at the 2012 U.S. Open.“It was like my only comfort was taken away from me that night and it put me into basically rock bottom, zero serotonin left in my brain,” he said.“It’s not about being tough. I practice kickboxing and muay Thai right now, like, come on, I’ll take anyone on in the ring. You can punch me in the face all you want, and I’ll hit you back. I train that stuff. It’s not about being weak. I was strong mentally. I was a bulldog. To win, I would have sacrificed anything. I’ll put my competitiveness up against anyone’s. It’s not about that. It’s actually the opposite. Showing weakness and that vulnerability is actually showing strength, in my opinion.” Fish is working as a mentor during the U.S. Open as part of a new initiative from the United States Tennis Association to provide more mental health resources for players, including on-call psychologists. Claudia Reardon, the U.S.T.A.’s new mental health consultant, is overseeing the program.Mardy Fish walked off the court after losing to Feliciano López in five sets at the 2015 U.S. Open.Chang W. Lee/The New York Times“Athletes who talk about their own use of mental health resources or their own struggles with mental health symptoms or disorders really do a wonderful service to sport in general in terms of demystifying and normalizing that experience,” Reardon said in an interview. “To have mental health symptoms is not incompatible with high-level sports, and it’s actually a sign of strength to reach out for help.”Fish said no player had yet contacted him during the tournament, but he said “tons of people” had contacted him since he began speaking openly about his condition.“People you’ve heard of; people you’ve never heard of,” he said. “Coaches, players, from tennis and other sports. It’s been really nice to be helpful in that way. I’ve made some great relationships because of it, so it’s been comforting in that way, to know I wasn’t alone and that other people wanted to be vulnerable as well, just not to the world.”Osaka, like Fish, has taken a more open approach, revealing this year that she struggled with anxiety and depression since winning her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2018 U.S. Open. In a round-table discussion before this year’s Open, she, Fish, Nick Kyrgios and Billie Jean King talked about multiple topics, including mental health and media relations.Though Osaka spoke before and during the Open about her desire to focus on the positives of being a world-class player, she struggled with her emotions in her loss on Friday to the Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez. She tossed her racket and knocked a ball into the stands in frustration and then teared up at a news conference. She said she did not know when she would play her next tennis match.“Recently, when I win, I don’t feel happy,” she said. “I feel more like relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad, and I don’t think that’s normal.”Fish was watching and listening.“That last press conference was her being really open,” he said. “I think it’s really important to put yourself first and what you feel is important to you and what makes you happy, and hopefully tennis is in there for her. I think it is. I know she understands her place in history. But the stuff outside the court has now gotten to her more than just wins and losses, and it’s unfortunate, but it’s important for her to make sure she feels comfortable again and happy again.” More

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      Even for the Greatest Players, Life in Tennis Can Be a Slog

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      Naomi Osaka is taking an indefinite break from tennis as she struggles to find meaning and joy from playing. It’s a sadly familiar script for the sport.The moment resonated with nearly every player who has ever picked up a racket, and especially those who have reached the pinnacle of tennis.A tearful Naomi Osaka sat behind a microphone late on Friday night and spoke of how the sport she has so dominated at times has become a joyless binary journey between relief after victories and sadness following losses. There is no contentment, no happiness.Then came what may be her last public words for some time.“I think I’m going to take a break from playing for a while,” she said.How long is anyone’s guess. But while Osaka’s misery is her own — like the unhappiness of the unhappy families Tolstoy refers to at the start of Anna Karenina — tennis has seen this movie so many times before that an unavoidable question arises: What is it about this sport that makes so many of the best players in the world, a collection of athletes seemingly swaddled in wealth and fame and glory, so intolerably miserable?“I think with anything you’re passionate about, it’s always a love/hate relationship, because you want that thing so bad all the time, you want to be perfect,” Bianca Andreescu, the Canadian star who won the U.S. Open the first time she played it in 2019 but has battled injuries, inconsistency and the frustrations that come with both ever since, said after her third-round win Saturday. “In my case, it’s tennis.”Careers cut short because of broken minds rather than aging bodies haunt tennis like ghosts.Bjorn Borg of Sweden, a superstar of the 1970s and winner of 11 Grand Slam titles, lost his fourth U.S. Open final in 1981. He walked off the court, drove away in his car, and never played another Grand Slam tournament again. He was 25. Steffi Graf, the winner of 22 Grand Slam singles titles, quit at 30, just weeks after a French Open title and a Wimbledon final, saying she had lost her motivation and passion for the game. Andre Agassi and Jennifer Capriati succumbed to drug abuse and, in Capriati’s case, addiction, though they managed to mount comebacks.More recently, Paula Badosa of Spain has spoken of her battles with depression brought on in part by the frustrations and pressures of the game. Iga Swiatek of Poland, who won the 2020 French Open at 19, spoke after a recent loss of seeing little other than tennis balls when she closed her eyes at night. After losing a hard-fought match at the Olympics she sobbed into a towel as though she had lost a close relative.Paula Badosa has spoken of her depression brought on by the pressures of the game.Aaron Doster/Associated PressAthletes in team sports talk about the joy that comes from being a part of something larger than themselves, of heading into battle surrounded by a band of brothers and sisters.Golfers play an individual sport filled with crushing frustrations, but they walk peaceful, beautiful grounds through a morning or afternoon, a caddie by their side lending advice and providing technical and emotional support. When they lose, the golf course gets the best of them.Tennis players and coaches speak of the singular form of intensity and loneliness that accompanies the game.From the time they are small children, tennis players run on hard, often hot, and sometimes sweltering courts for hours as a human on the other side of the net tries to pound them into exhaustion and defeat. And they do it alone, prohibited from communicating with anyone during the most important matches.They cross borders and time zones and oceans often from week to week during a grueling, 11-month season. Sometimes they compete at 11 o’clock in the morning. The next day they might start at 11 at night. Sleeping and eating schedules are discombobulated.Tennis players talk differently when they talk about losing. The player not holding the trophy at the end of a tournament does not come in second place, and semifinalists do not finish in third or fourth. Pro golfers who finished fourth often say they had a great week. Marathoners and swimmers talk about being on the podium.As Novak Djokovic, no stranger to tennis misery, said the other night, “We are a particular sport that only has one winner.”The coronavirus pandemic has only magnified pressures and pitfalls, and added another kind of loneliness. For more than a year, at most tournaments players have had to limit their movements to their hotels, practice courts and competition venues, passing long hours alone in soulless rooms. They are tested for Covid-19 every few days, always one swab away from a 10-day isolation far from home.Daria Abramowicz, a sports psychologist who travels with Swiatek, said the sport in its modern form is an energy sucking journey of climbing the rankings ladder, defending your position, and cultivating fans, as well as sponsors, who can provide a financial safety net but bring their own demands.Daria Abramowicz, a sports psychologist, with Iga Swiatek in Australia in February.Alana Holmberg for The New York Times“If your tank is empty or almost empty, and if you feel burdened that there are a lot of challenges all around the performance, it is impossible to enjoy the process and enjoy this moment,” Abramowicz said.For better or worse, Osaka has taken on burdens.After the murder of George Floyd, she flew to Minneapolis to march with protesters. After the shooting of Jacob Blake, she single-handedly brought her sport to a standstill when she announced she would not play her semifinal match in the Western & Southern Open. She wore a mask with the name of a different victim of police violence onto the court for each of her matches at the U.S. Open last year.“She allows herself to really feel and experience that sadness,” said Pam Shriver, the former top player and Grand Slam doubles champion.In May, ahead of the French Open, Osaka tried to overturn years of tennis protocol when she refused to participate in post-match news conferences because she said they put too much stress on players, especially after losses. Her stance led to an ugly confrontation with tournament organizers and her withdrawal from the tournament after just one match.In Japan, where she has become a symbol of a new, multiracial vision of a traditionally homogeneous society, she embraced the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron and becoming the face of the Games. It was her first competition since the French Open.She has told the world about her battles with depression the past three years, a move that John McEnroe said took great courage. The seven-time Grand Slam winner, who 40 years later is still shaken by the sudden departure of Borg, his chief rival, said her candor probably helped countless people. McEnroe added that it may also make it harder for Osaka to thrive because of the increased attention it brings.“She’s the type of player we need around the sport another 10 years, that should win a bunch of more majors hopefully, if she’s in the right head space,” McEnroe said days before the start of the U.S. Open.After spending roughly two years on the pro tour with Swiatek, Abramowicz has concluded that players can survive careers — inevitably filled with losses and disappointment — only by working every day to build self-worth and self-confidence that is not measured by wins and rankings points but rather relationships. Only then can they find a way to enjoy the process, as enervating as it might be.“You need to maintain the core values, because without that there is nothing,” Abramowicz said. “There is just burned ground.” More

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      Naomi Osaka Loses to Leylah Fernandez at the U.S. Open

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      In tears after the third-round match, the defending champion said, “I think I’m going to take a break from playing for a while.”Naomi Osaka, the defending women’s singles champion, was upset, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4, in the third round of the U.S. Open on Friday night by Leylah Annie Fernandez, an unseeded 18-year-old from Canada.During her post-match news conference Osaka was in tears.“I honestly don’t know when I’m going to play my next tennis match,” she said. “I think I’m going to take a break from playing for a while.”She flashed two thumbs up and left the room crying.The 73rd-ranked Fernandez, a quick and dynamic left-hander, had never faced Osaka, but she did not appear intimidated, clenching her fist after winning key points and often dictating play with her topspin forehand.It was a memorable evening for teenagers in Arthur Ashe Stadium. In the preceding match, Carlos Alcaraz, a dynamic Spanish 18-year-old, eliminated the No. 3 men’s seed, Stefanos Tsitsipas, in a momentum-shifting thriller that came down to a fifth-set tiebreaker. That was the final match of the day session, and when the arena had been cleared and the night-session crowd had taken their seats, Fernandez followed Alcaraz’s lead, rallying to defeat the third-seeded Osaka.The upset came on the same court where Osaka had become a global star by surprising Serena Williams to win the 2018 U.S. Open. Osaka has since won three more Grand Slam singles titles, including one at last year’s Open.Fernandez had never faced Osaka but did not appear intimidated.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesOsaka broke Fernandez’s serve at 5-5 in the second set with a backhand winner and then served for the match. She had not faced even a break point at that stage but was unable to close out the victory. Fernandez went on to win the first five points of the ensuing tiebreaker, prompting Osaka to hurl her racket to the court. Fernandez then evened the match at one set apiece.“I guess I wanted to stay on the court a little bit longer, and I wanted to put on a show for everybody here,” Fernandez said in her post-match interview. “One hour was just not enough for me on court.”Fernandez quickly took the lead in the third set by breaking Osaka’s serve again in the opening game, and though Osaka began to find her range in her own service games, she could not solve Fernandez’s slower left-handed serve.Osaka did not hide her frustration. After Fernandez hit a net-cord winner in the second game of the final set to go up, 40-15, Osaka took hold of the ball and smacked it high into the stands, receiving a code violation for ball abuse.Fernandez would face no break points on her serve in the final set, and when it came time to serve for the most significant victory of her career, she held at love. At 30-0, she hit a terrific backhand drop-shot winner, and on her first match point, Osaka misjudged a forehand and hit it wide.Osaka appeared to be frustrated in the final set, hitting a ball high into the stands.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesArms up and smiling, Fernandez jogged forward to the net for the handshake.“From the very beginning, right before the match, I knew I was able to win,” she said.Fernandez’s victory was the first major upset of the U.S. Open women’s tournament, which, despite the depth of talent in the women’s game, had largely respected the seedings in the first two rounds. But Friday’s result was the latest setback for Osaka, the biggest star in the women’s game after Serena Williams. Since winning the Australian Open in February, she has played sparingly and has not won another title or even reached another semifinal.Osaka withdrew from the French Open after winning one round after she was fined for declining to take part in the mandatory post-match news conference. Later she explained in a post on social media that she had experienced depression since winning the 2018 U.S. Open and had often found it difficult to face the news media. She returned to her home in Los Angeles and decided to skip Wimbledon but returned to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, where she became the first tennis player to light the Olympic cauldron but lost in the third round to Marketa Vondrousova.Fernadez’s parents, left, after the upset.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesShe was beaten in the round of 16 of the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati by Jil Teichmann in her only North American tournament before this year’s Open. After defeating Maria Bouzkova in straight sets in the first round in New York, she received a walkover in the second round when Olga Danilova withdrew because of illness.But because of her lack of recent match play, the unexpected break did not turn out to be an advantage. Fernandez, brimming with energy, was able to capitalize. More

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      A Young Serbian Player Has a Not-So-Secret Weapon: Novak Djokovic

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      Olga Danilovic, who calls the world No. 1 her mentor, had been scheduled to play Naomi Osaka at the U.S. Open, but pulled out an hour before her match.Olga Danilovic has never experienced an atmosphere like the show court matches at the U.S. Open. And now she will have to wait at least another year.Danilovic had been scheduled to play the reigning champion Naomi Osaka at noon on Wednesday, but withdrew from their second round match about an hour before it was played. Tournament officials said Danilovic had a medical issue and that Osaka would advance to the third round.Danilovic, a qualifier ranked 145th, has been mentored and inspired from a young age by the 20-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, a compatriot who has quietly offered support to many young Serbian players, even as he chases a spot atop the pantheon of men’s tennis history.“When you talk to him you think, ‘OK, now I’m going to beat everyone after talking to him,’” Danilovic told Tennis.com earlier this year. “His energy and dedication and his passion to play and work is something that pushes you to be better.”After winning his first round match on Tuesday night, Djokovic said Danilovic had been eager for a big-time opportunity against Osaka.“She was asking me about how it feels to be on the big stage,” Djokovic said. “Of course, you can say something, but then you really need to experience it. Hopefully she can use that to her own advantage, the motivation and inspiration.”Danilovic, 20 broke into the WTA Top 100 after winning the Moscow River Cup in 2018, when she was only 17, becoming the first player born this century to win a WTA title, but she struggled to win consistently.Djokovic emphasized that Danilovic was still “really young.”“She’s got the goods,” Djokovic said. “She’s really, really strong, fit, tall, lefty; don’t have many good lefty servers in both the men’s and women’s game. I think it’s quite an advantage. If she’s serving well, she can do damage to a lot of players.”What Danilovic is missing, Djokovic said, was experience.“The more matches she’s winning on this stage, the more comfortable she’s going to feel,” Djokovic said. “So, yes, we’ve been speaking a lot. I’ve been trying to help her out as much as I possibly can, her team, her family, with guidance on and off the court, some advices.”Danilovic has plenty of athletic experience in her family, although not in tennis. Her father, Sasha Danilovic, was a star shooting guard in European basketball leagues in the 1990s, and played for two seasons in the N.B.A. He is now the president of the Basketball Federation of Serbia.“She’s got the great genes for sport,” Djokovic said Tuesday.Djokovic watched Danilovic’s second-round match at the Australian Open courtside earlier this year.“I noticed at the very end,” Shelby Rogers, Danilovic’s opponent in that match, said. “She definitely won the cheering squad award today, I’ll tell you that.” More

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      Naomi Osaka on Her Tennis Roots: 'Home Is Queens and These Courts'

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      The defending U.S. Open champion got her start playing with her family in a city park in Jamaica, Queens.Just a few days before Naomi Osaka, the defending champion of the United States Open, stepped onto the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing, Queens, for her first match of the 2021 tournament, the four-time Grand Slam title winner made another stop in Queens: to an unassuming public park in Jamaica.There, at Detective Keith L. Williams Park, Ms. Osaka attended the unveiling of five renovated tennis courts with new nets and surfaces, all of which are surrounded by newly painted graphics and symbols. With funding from Bodyarmor, the sports drink company based in Whitestone, Queens, Ms. Osaka served as a creative and practical adviser on how to refurbish the tennis courts.After all, it was personal for her.Ms. Osaka, whose father is Haitian and mother is Japanese (and who represents Japan when she competes), was 3 years old when her family left Osaka, Japan, for Elmont, a hamlet on Long Island near the Queens border. Soon after, her father started to bring Naomi and her older sister, Mari, to the Jamaica courts because they were free and inclusive. The sisters learned how to play tennis there. Naomi went on to become the No. 1 player in the world in 2019.Naomi Osaka, in her early years, on the courts of Jamaica, Queens. “I remember hitting with some of the local players, men who were anywhere from 30 to 50 years old.”via Naomi Osaka“As a traveling athlete, the place that always feels like home is Queens and these courts,” said Ms. Osaka, who played tennis in Jamaica until her family left the area for Pembroke Pines, Fla., when she was 8. “Mari and I spent so much time here as kids, so many hours on these courts, practicing, and we really feel a connection to not only the courts but the area and the community.”Before Ms. Osaka visited either court in Queens, whether it was in a stadium or a public park, The Times caught up with her over email. The following is an edited and condensed version of the interview.Leonard Francois, Ms. Osaka’s father, took her and her sister to the courts in Jamaica because they were free and inclusive. Now Ms. Osaka would like for other young people to play there. Above: Ms. Osaka, right, with participants from a recent clinic.Calla Kessler for The New York TimesQ. How did you end up playing tennis in Jamaica?A. It was really expensive to practice at indoor clubs or any other court for that matter, especially considering how many hours we were usually on the court practicing. So my parents started taking me to play in Jamaica because that was all we really had as an option.What memories do you have from these courts?My dad was always coaching me and Mari. We mostly did drills, but I remember hitting with some of the local players, men who were anywhere from 30 to 50 years old. Because we were there so often, everyone knew who we were, and there was a sense of community. When I first started playing I remember some of them enjoyed kicking our butts. But as I got older, I could put up a fight against some of them. I remember one of them, he was tall and lanky. I started beating him too much, so my dad gave me certain rules to follow, like always hit the ball at him so he doesn’t have to move or start every game down 0-30.Naomi, on the left, with her older sister, Mari, at the U.S. Open in the early 2000s.via Naomi OsakaDo you have any vivid New York memories from then?On the weekends my mom would bring us into the city and take us into Chinatown, and we got this hot, fluffy scallion bread. I have no idea which specific shop it was, but it’s my favorite food, and I think about it when I think about New York City.It can be hard to find a tennis court in the city. Many have steep fees or long lines. How would you like to see this one operate?I would love to see people from the community play on this court, people who don’t necessarily have the means to pay for a club membership, people who just want to try and hit some balls for the fun of it, or kids who are trying to reach a dream. When we were young we got kicked off so many courts because we stayed too long or didn’t pay enough money. I wish for these courts to just let anyone play on a first come first served basis.A tennis clinic at Detective Keith L. Williams Park, in Jamaica, Queens.Calla Kessler for The New York TimesWhen you refurbished the courts you left a lot of symbols on them. Tell us about their meaning.Not only did I want to create a really cool court that kids could relate to and want to come see and play on, we wanted to leave behind a message that would hopefully inspire the community, especially the kids. So Mari, who is an amazing artist, and I collaborated on a mural that ties in some of our personal background as well as places and symbols.As you enter the court you’ll see a welcome sign in English, Haitian and Japanese, which represents our background. Music is also a huge part of my life, it’s my pre-match ritual, so you’ll see music notes painted on the edge of the court. There is also a trophy on one end to acknowledge my career and inspire others to reach their goals. Peace is incredibly important to me off the court, so you’ll see symbols of that. While the colors we used on the court are bright, they are also cool and calming. I’m a big fan of blues and purples.“I just hope everyone remembers that tennis is a game and is meant to be fun.”Calla Kessler for The New York TimesWould you be interested in developing other courts and programs in other underserved neighborhoods across the country?I am already working on a bunch of similar projects with my foundation, the Play Academy. We want to create opportunities for girls to have positive experiences with play and sport in the United States, Japan and Haiti. My parents also built tennis courts (as part of a school) in Jacmel, Haiti. My dad has family there, and it is not too far from the capital, which made it a convenient location.At the end of the day I just hope everyone remembers that tennis is a game and is meant to be fun. More

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      To Play Tennis, Naomi Osaka Finds a New Purpose. So Far, So Good.

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      The defending champion started the U.S. Open with a solid 6-4, 6-1 win over Marie Bouzkova, a hard-hitting Czech. Feeling good about herself is the next challenge.Naomi Osaka was back on the tennis court in New York on Monday night, not far from where she first started hitting a tennis ball in earnest as a child, and where her year of years began 12 months and what seems like a lifetime ago.The journey began with her refusal to play tennis after another police shooting of a Black man. Then came her provocative and powerful masks, each adorned with the name of a victim of police violence, as well as the third Grand Slam title of her career. Then there were magazine covers; a magical run in Australia; a standoff with the press in Paris; revelations that she struggles with mental health; her decision to skip Wimbledon, the biggest championship in tennis; followed by a triumphant-until-it-wasn’t return in Tokyo, where she lit the Olympic cauldron for her home country.Osaka has become the rare tennis player whose presence raises the temperature, even of something routine: a first-round match against an unheralded but improving 23-year-old Czech named Marie Bouzkova.If there is one thing Osaka has shown during her young career, it’s that nothing with her is routine.She walked into a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday night as the defending champion and the No. 3 seed in the U.S. Open, a little more than six months removed from being declared virtually unbeatable on hard courts, where she has won each of her four Grand Slam titles.She has the sort of résumé that generally makes a player a heavy favorite, not just to win her first match, but also to capture her third U.S. Open singles title in four years. In the back of the court, she bounces on her toes like a boxer and does her trademark thigh-whack as she awaits her opponent’s serve.Steve Nash, the Hall of Fame basketball player and coach of the Brooklyn Nets, and Mike Tyson, the former heavyweight champion, were part of a crowd of nearly 20,000 that was far larger and more electric than the usual opening night of this 14-day tournament.Osaka drew a crowd far larger than the usual opening night of the U.S. Open.Michelle V. Agins/The New York TimesWould it have surprised if Osaka had lost, after the tumultuous ride she put herself on during the past year, and the mediocre results she produced this summer? She had played just nine matches since April and had a 5-5 record, including a default at the French Open.She didn’t lose, but Osaka did grind through a tough first set against Bouzkova, battling to find her rhythm against the hard-hitting Czech. She had to save eight break points. But after splitting the first eight games, Osaka started pushing Bouzkova deep into the back of the court with her clean, powerful strokes and, not surprisingly, also started winning most of the important points. She reeled off eight of the next nine games for a 6-4, 6-1 win.It was a far closer match than the score line suggested though, filled with tight games, long points and smash-mouth rallies, but also a more promising opening to her first Grand Slam in three months than the last time she undertook one of the sport’s most prized events.In May, Osaka arrived in Paris for the French Open declaring that she would no longer participate in the mandatory news conferences that all players sit through after a match, win or lose, if their presence is requested. She said that they caused too much mental stress, and that she would pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines instead.Within days, French Open organizers, with the support of leaders of the other three Grand Slam events, threatened to kick her out of the tournament. A day later, Osaka dropped out, announcing that she would take a break from the sport and telling the world that she had been battling depression on and off for nearly three years.On Sunday, a little more than 24 hours before her opening match at the U.S. Open, another pretournament declaration arrived. This one was far less confrontational and more nuanced, but still packed a defiant jab at anyone who has criticized her recent subpar performances, at the French Open, or the Olympics, where she was beaten badly in the round of 16 by Marketa Vondrousova, another young and unproven Czech player, ranked 38th in the world.Osaka during her Olympics loss.Doug Mills/The New York TimesIn an Instagram post that she also shared on Twitter, Osaka said she had realized, upon reflection, that she is far too critical of herself.“I think I’m never good enough,” she wrote. “I’ve never told myself that I’ve done a good job but I constantly tell myself that I suck or that I could do better.”She urged people to value the smallest accomplishments, even getting out of bed and fighting off procrastination, and she committed herself to celebrating her own accomplishments more.“Your life is your own and you shouldn’t value yourself on other people’s standards,” she wrote. “I know I give my heart to everything I can and if that is not good enough for some then my apologies, but I can’t burden myself with those expectations anymore. Seeing everything that’s going on in the world I feel like if I wake up in the morning that’s a win. That’s how I’m coming.”Exactly what Osaka meant can sometimes be anyone’s guess. She is something of a tennis sphinx, insisting that the message that people receive from her is more important than whatever message she might be trying to deliver.Also, she has admitted to a certain amount of impulsiveness. If she thinks or feels something, she may very well just say it, or write it, or do it, without thinking through all the consequences.On Friday though, Osaka allowed that she plays far better when she is playing with a purpose beyond competing for another trophy and $2.5 million, the prize for winning the U.S. Open.“I’m the type of player that plays better if I have a reason or if I have a goal or if I’m driven about something,” she said in a pretournament news conference. “In New York last year the biggest goal for me was just to push that message across. I feel like I did well there. Right now, I don’t really have that big of a message to push across at all. So it’s going to be really interesting to see what drives me.”Osaka seems to have dialed in on a purpose — to play without beating herself up for every error, every missed opportunity, and, if it happens, another loss, even if the chorus of critics grows louder.She has heard all the criticism, and she knows better than anyone that she has not made even a quarterfinal since March, much less a final of a Grand Slam. She knows how little she has played this year — remarkably little given her ranking and her stature as the winner of two of the last four Grand Slams, and four of the last 11.This, she hopes, will be the Grand Slam when she begins to get over her obsession with perfection that leads to disappointment when something she does is great but not flawless. Amid all the thousands of screaming fans on Monday night in the biggest stadium in tennis, Osaka’s ear remained tuned to the high-pitched yelps of a small girl seated low beside the court.“I just want to be happy with knowing that I did my best and knowing that even though I didn’t play perfect I was able to win a match in two sets,” she said after her win. “Or if I have to battle, play a match in three sets, knowing that I made a couple mistakes, but it’s OK at the end of the day because I’ll learn from the matches that I’ll keep playing.”“It’s not really a tournament thing,” she added as the night drew to a close. “It’s more like a life thing.” More

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      Naomi Osaka Wins Her First-Round Match at the U.S. Open

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      Naomi Osaka had a solid start to the defense of her U.S. Open title, posting a 6-4, 6-1 win over Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic that was a little closer than the final score suggested.Osaka and Bouzkova were dead even through a hard-fought first set filled with tight games, long points and hard-hitting rallies. In the 10th game, Osaka finally forced Bouzkova into a backhand error on her third set point to take the lead with her first service break and claim the opening set.Osaka seemed to settle in from there, jetting to a 5-0 lead in the second set before Bouzkova was finally able to hold her serve. Osaka finished Bouzkova off in the next game with a forehand winner down the line that caught the edge of the paint.This was a far different atmosphere than anything Osaka experienced on her march to the championship last year, when no spectators were allowed at the tournament. She played Monday at Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of nearly 20,000 fans who were loud all night and have begun to embrace her as one of their own. Osaka was born in Japan and represents that nation but grew up largely in New York and Florida.“It feels kind of amazing to play in front of everyone again,” Osaka said after the match, “The energy here is unmatched.” More

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      What to Watch Monday at the U.S. Open

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      Andy Murray and Stefanos Tsitsipas meet for the first time, and the spotlight shines once again on defending champion Naomi Osaka.How to watch: From noon to 6 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN; 7 to 11 p.m. on ESPN2; and streaming on the ESPN app.Matches to keep an eye on.Because of the number of matches cycling through courts, these times are estimates and may fluctuate based on when earlier play is completed. All times are Eastern Standard.Grandstand | 11 a.m.Simona Halep vs. Camila GiorgiSimona Halep, the 12th seed, pulled out of the Western & Southern Open earlier this month citing a tear in her right abductor. The two-time major champion is a tough competitor when healthy, but multiple injuries this year kept her out of the French Open and Wimbledon.Camila Giorgi, ranked 36th, is on an upswing, having won her first Masters 1000 event at the National Bank Open in August. Giorgi has an aggressive baseline game that will put Halep on defensive footing, and for both players it will be a proper test of their capabilities to make a deep run at the U.S. Open.ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM | 2 p.m.Andy Murray vs. Stefanos TsitsipasAndy Murray, who won the U.S. Open in 2012, has struggled with injuries since 2018, playing on the tour intermittently between surgeries. Still, Murray has been able to compete well enough, reaching the third round at Wimbledon in July.Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 3rd seed, crashed out of Wimbledon in the first round after a charge to the finals at the French Open. His consistency is often challenged by experienced players and the Greek star will be in for a grinding match against the three-time major tournament champion in their first meeting.ARTHUR ASHE STADIUM | 7 p.m.Naomi Osaka vs. Marie BouzkovaNaomi Osaka, the 3rd seed, won the U.S. Open in 2018 and 2020, and will be looking to start her title defense with a convincing first round victory. Osaka lost in the third round of the Olympics to the eventual silver medalist, Marketa Vondrousova. The disappointing result in Tokyo can surely be put behind her as she returns in front of the adoring crowds of New York.Marie Bouzkova reached her second career WTA final in February on the hard courts of Melbourne leading up to the Australian Open. The 23-year-old Czech won the Girls’ U.S. Open title in 2014 but has not replicated that success on the pro tour. An upset against Osaka would be her biggest win.Daniil Medvedev returns the ball during a practice session prior to the start of the U.S. Open.Sarah Stier/Getty ImagesARTHUR ASHE STADIUM | 9 p.m.Daniil Medvedev vs. Richard GasquetDaniil Medvedev, the 2nd seed, will face off against Richard Gasquet, a veteran of the ATP Tour, to cap the night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Medvedev won the National Bank Open earlier this month, and is a favorite to make the final on Sept. 12. Gasquet has not been past the third round of a major tournament since 2016, and an upset seems unlikely as Medvedev will look to repeat or better his finals run from 2019.Sleeper match of the day.Court 8 | 11 a.m.Mayar Sherif vs. Anhelina KalininaBoth Mayar Sherif and Anhelina Kalinina cracked the top 100 this year after career best performances at Grand Slam tournaments. Sherif became the first Egyptian woman to win a main draw match at a major tournament in Australia this year, and Kalinina reached the second round at the French Open. These promising players are well matched opponents. Kalinina won their only matchup when they met on clay in July, but Sherif is well suited to hardcourts and should be the slight favorite going into today’s match. More