Ten aces in one set, and still no cushion
It was past midnight in New York by the time Naomi Osaka finally put away Anastasia Zakharova. 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3), on Arthur Ashe Stadium, first round of the US Open. Two sets, and a scoreline that hides how close the whole thing ran.
Osaka was broken serving for each set. Both times she hauled it back and took the tie-break. Her serve was what saved her: 11 aces in total, 10 of them in the second set alone.
“I’d say it took everything I had,” the 28-year-old said once it was done. On the court microphone she owned up to the nerves too. “I’m really nervous in the first round of this tournament, because I want to do well.”
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Nike asked for basketball, so she gave them Iverson
Cornrows, and a hoodie built around Allen Iverson. Osaka walked out dressed for a different sport entirely, and none of it was accidental. “It’s my tribute to Iverson. I really love him,” she said of the former NBA guard.
She spelled out where the idea came from. “Nike said basketball, so I said: all right, you want basketball, I’ll give you basketball.” Iverson saw it almost immediately and went to Instagram: “Wow, what an honour! Big fan, can’t wait to meet you.”
Osaka runs a fashion career alongside the tennis and has never pretended otherwise. Every round she survives is another outfit that gets an airing. She said as much to the New York crowd.
Siniakova next, and a title drought since 2024
Four Grand Slam titles. Two of them right here, in 2018 and 2020. But Osaka has not won a WTA event since coming back from maternity leave in 2024, and the draw does not get any kinder from here.
Round two brings Katerina Siniakova. The Czech went through Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-3, 6-2 on Monday without much fuss.
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