Striding onto court in a crystal-embellished dress she’d painstakingly self-designed, Naomi Osaka appeared every inch a superstar as she launched a ninth main-draw campaign at the US Open.
The custom-made ensemble – accessorised with sparkling roses in her hair and a matching Labubu she dubbed “Billie Jean Bling” – has provided a captivating reminder of Osaka’s big-stage appeal.
And so too, in a restorative week at the Flushing Meadows, has Osaka’s tennis.
With wins over Greet Minnen, Hailey Baptiste and the higher-ranked Daria Kasatkina, the 27-year-old has showcased the form and composure that carried her to four Grand Slam titles, including her breakthrough at the US Open in 2018 and a repeat performance in 2020.
A return to the fourth round marks Osaka’s best performance at a major since she lifted the second of her two Australian Open trophies in 2021. It also set a blockbuster encounter, with the former world No.1 now preparing to face another former champion in Coco Gauff.
“It’s been a really long journey but I’m glad to be here now,” said Osaka, who became a mother to daughter, Shai, in July 2023 and returned from her maternity leave break in January last year.
That journey, Osaka admitted, has required patience, persistence and a degree of soul-searching.
“I think honestly since I’ve come back I kind of wanted everything to happen really quickly,” she related. “I think it took … for me to just completely not even think about results anymore and just try to focus on every match by itself.”
Osaka did so admirably in her latest match against Kasatkina, who at world No.18 is ranked six places higher than the current No.24. After taking the first set in just 23 minutes, Osaka conceded that nerves became a factor before she emerged with a 6-0 4-6 6-3 win.
“I don't think I played that well, but I think mentally I was just trying to, like, fight for everything,” she said. “I know that it was a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster.”
The hard-fought victory, eventually secured in an hour and 44 minutes on Louis Armstrong Stadium, is not the only rollercoaster Osaka has experienced in recent months.
After a loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round of Wimbledon, she announced a split with high-profile advisor Patrick Mouratoglolu.
Osaka subsequently teamed with Tomasz Wiktorowski, a long-time former coach of Iga Swiatek, and credits his steadying influence for pleasing progress throughout the North American summer.
Last month in Montreal, Osaka defeated higher-ranked opponents including Liudmila Samsonova, Jelena Ostapenko and Elina Svitolina to return to a first WTA 1000 final since she was runner-up to Swiatek at Miami in 2022.
Despite a three-set loss to the fast-rising Victora Mboko in the Montreal decider, Osaka achieved her goal to be seeded at a Slam for the first since her maternity leave break. More notably, the improvements under Wiktorowski’s guidance were clear.
“Tomasz has talked to me a lot about the placement of my shots and not necessarily going for winners most of the time,” said Osaka, when asked about specific areas of her game they’d targeted.
Osaka’s new coach has also encouraged a calmer “match-by-match” approach – although the hype will be hard to avoid when she takes on Gauff in her next match. It will be a sixth meeting between the two major drawcards, who first faced off at the US Open in 2019.
“I remember just knowing that she was going to be a really great tennis player, which I was right [about],” Osaka laughed of world No.2 Gauff, who lost that match but claimed her breakthrough Slam at the US Open in 2023.
“But yeah, I mean, she was, what, 15 at the time? I thought she just handled herself really well, and I knew she was going to be back there,” Osaka added. “Now to be playing her again after six years, I don't know if that makes me old, but yeah, just to be at this point of my life and to be playing her again is honestly, for me, feels kind of special.”
Equally special is Osaka's long connection with the hardcourt major, which she has explained "feels like home" in many ways. While born in Japan, the world No.24 was mostly raised in the United States, with fond memories of New York providing major inspiration.
"I grew up here, so as a little kid, I used to be in those stands. I have always wondered what it would be like ot be the one actually playing," Osaka related of the energy she first absorbed watching the US Open as a child.
"I think if fun. I think it's something that you just kind of grow up watching, and then you're finally there."
It's hard to know whether a young Osaka could envisage the star power she would eventually yield at the US Open. But both then and now, the savvy competitor would know that as far as tennis stages go, they don't come any bigger than this.