Naomi Osaka's return to the U.S. Open earns her first top-10 win in 4 years

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Naomi Osaka of Japan reacts after defeating Jelena Ostapenko, of Latvia, during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2024, in New York. / AP

Naomi Osaka is advancing to the second round of the U.S. Open after defeating the sport’s No. 10 seed, Jelena Ostapenko.

Osaka, currently ranked No. 88 in singles, shed tears after beating the Latvian native 6-3, 6-2. This is her first win against a top 10 opponent in four years.

“I would say I made a promise to myself to be as confident as I can in the fact that I am who I am,” she said after the match. “I feel like for me, throughout the year, I’ve had really hard matches and it kind of dipped my confidence a little, and I wouldn’t say that I played bad tennis. I just would say that I played really good players and I also learned a lot.”

Osaka has won two U.S. Open titles — in 2018 and 2020 — and two Australian Open titles, in 2019 and 2021.

The Japanese native took hiatuses from the sport for her mental health in 2021, and again after giving birth to her 1-year-old daughter, Shai.

“I do think coming to this specific tournament helps me out,” she said. “But also, whenever I step foot here, I don’t really think about the two tournaments I won, I just think about how I felt when I was a kid.”

She has not gone past the second round at a major tournament since her comeback, but will have the opportunity to do so in her next matchup against Karolina Muchova, from the Czech Republic, ranked No. 52.