Naomi Osaka started off sloppy, but ended up stellar.
After winning last year’s U.S. Open championship with no fans in the stands, Osaka may have had some early jitters Monday in an electric, packed house. And she found her rhythm in cruising to a 6-4, 6-1 first-round rout of Czech Marie Bouzkova at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“It feels really good to be playing in front of fans. I just want to say thank you for coming out here,” Osaka said in an on-court TV interview. “Last year when we didn’t have a crowd, I know it felt lonely for me. I’m just glad to see little kids out in the crowd — and grown-ups, too. I’m just really happy to be playing in Arthur Ashe again.”
Whatever early nerves Osaka had in the first set, she got on a roll in the second. She hit 34 winners, lost only six points on her dominant first serve and by the end started to look more like her championship-level self.
Osaka looked like she was having fun, enjoying her tennis. And in the right headspace, her dominant talent took over. She had so much pace and firepower, this was a fait accompli.
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“For me, I’ve played a lot of matches on this court. It might be the court I’ve played the most on in my career,” Osaka said. “Playing a night match is a really big honor. Playing the first night match is not something I’ve done. I’m just glad I won.”
Osaka came into Flushing Meadows with not only a target on her back, but a figurative spotlight on her head. She’d not only lost in the fourth round in Cincinnati and the Olympics, but more notably pulled out of the French Open and skipped Wimbledon, citing mental health issues.
The shy 23-year-old has predictably had her every move coming into the U.S. Open psychoanalyzed, and Monday’s first-round match was even more of the same. But after a somewhat sloppy, tight opening, she gradually became more confident and comfortable. And then the power took over.
Osaka wasn’t closing out her serves early on, Bouzkova standing on — and in some cases inside — the baseline, returning one of the best serves in the game. It was knotted at 4-all, Osaka spraying balls wide, when she held with an ace.
A nice rally shot down the line gave Osaka set point, and her first break of the night gave her the first set. It also gave her the momentum.
Bouzkova lived up to her reputation as a studious competitor, fighting to the end. She scraped to get break point after break point; she just couldn’t convert them.
Osaka reeled off seven games in a row to take complete command.
Up 1-0 in the second set, a fluttering bug disrupted play until it eventually got squashed. It was symbolic of the way the rest of the second set went. Osaka ripped one down the line to break and go up 2-0.
Serving with the advantage, she took a long walk, taking the entire 25 second clock and icing her foe. Then she came back and served out the game to go up 3-0.
The run reached seven in a row, as Osaka led 5-0. The rest was a foregone conclusion.