Naomi Osaka kicks off U.S. Open comeback with emotional win over Jelena Ostapenko

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka began her comeback campaign with a straight-set win over no. 10-ranked Jelena Ostapenko in the first round of the U.S. Open on Tuesday.

Wearing a green ruffled skirt and a white bow tied around her waist — a custom look by Nike — Osaka made a statement well beyond her fashion: she wasn’t giving up so easily after a season riddled with challenges.

In front of a packed crowd at Louis Armstrong Stadium, Osaka exuded positivity, a spring in her step as she took down her Latvian opponent — a fellow Grand Slam champion who had 11 more match wins than Osaka this year.

The tennis star fought back tears as she spoke after the match, greeted by the audience’s standing ovation.

“I so badly wanted to step on these courts again,” she said. “I didn’t know if I could … Just to win this match, just to be in this atmosphere means so much to me.”

Osaka had earned a wildcard spot in the women’s singles main draw after not ranking high enough to qualify directly. She entered the tournament with an 18-15 record and ranked 88th in the world.

After most recently losing in the qualifying rounds of the Cincinnati Open, Osaka opened up in a post on Instagram about the mental struggles she faced since giving birth to her first child.

“I don’t feel like I’m in my body,” Osaka wrote at the time. She signed off her message with a promise to give it her best shot as she headed for New York.

So far, her hard work seems to have paid off.

Osaka has won the U.S. Open twice, including in a controversial match against Serena Williams in 2018. In her last appearance at the tournament in 2022, Osaka lost to American Danielle Collins in the first round.

When addressing the crowd, Osaka also said that she had to hold her daughter for awhile the night before after she couldn’t fall asleep. Despite the inconvenient timing, Osaka said the moment was special.

“Moments like that are really precious to me and I can only hope to keep having more,” she said.

The first round of the U.S. Open also saw hype around 16-year-old Iva Jokic, who pulled off a stunning upset as the youngest American to win a women’s main-draw match at the U.S. Open since 2000.

Osaka will next face Karolina Muchova in the second round on Thursday.