Osaka wins US Open return, hopes to ‘believe more in myself’
NEW YORK (AP) » Here’s the realization Naomi Osaka came to, gradually and only recently: If other people think a lot of her, she probably should, too.
“Hearing a little kid telling me that I’m their favorite player or I’m a role model, instinctively the first thought in my mind is, like, ‘Why?’” Osaka explained as Monday turned to Tuesday after a successful start to her U.S. Open title defense. “I feel like I have to sort of embrace more ... the honor that they’re telling me that, and I should believe more in myself. I feel like if you don’t believe in yourself, then other people won’t believe in yourself.”
During her return to Grand Slam action after a mental health break — an at-times-dominant 6-4, 6-1 victory over 87thranked Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic — Osaka heard the highpitched voice of one such “little kid” in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
When the match ended, Osaka went over with a little gift: one of the Olympic pins athletes collect.
With a bit of self-deprecation, Osaka noted that she didn’t stick around at the Tokyo Games long enough to trade away all of those mini-souvenirs (a native of host country Japan, she was granted the honor of lighting the cauldron at the opening ceremony, then lost her third-round match).
The Summer Olympics marked her first competition anywhere since May 30 at the French Open.
That day, Osaka skipped her mandatory news conference after her first-round victory in Paris, drawing a $15,000 fine and a warning from the heads of the Slams that she could face a suspension. She responded by pulling out of Roland Garros, explaining that she feels anxiety when speaking to the media and has dealt with depression for years. Osaka then sat out Wimbledon, too.
The 23-year-old is clearly introspective and thoughtful, someone who is getting more and more used to sharing her innermost ideas with the rest of the world. In a social media post Sunday about ruminations on self-worth, Osaka wrote that she’s “gonna try to celebrate myself and my accomplishments more, I think we all should” and that she “can’t burden myself with (others’) expectations anymore.”
On Monday, she entered Ashe with her usual firstround Slam jitters, but not because of any sense of pressure to win, Osaka said afterward.
Instead, it was based on a desire to play well, especially for the loud and appreciative full house that was there a year after she won the title in a nearly empty arena because spectators were banned then amid the coronavirus pandemic.