Naomi Osaka didn't play that well leading up to the 2024 US Open, but she performed exceptionally to win her opening-round match against Jelena Ostapenko at Flushing Meadows.
The draw was not kind to Osaka, who drew one of the biggest hitters in tennis in the first round of the New York Slam. Ostapenko is a player with many forms. On a given day, she can be the best player in the world.
She can also be a player with a level outside of the Top 100 on any given day, which is how volatile her level is. However, she was expected to do well against Osaka for a simple reason: the Japanese player's recent serving struggles.
In the lead-up to this event, Osaka greatly struggled with her serve. It's a major weapon that keeps players away from any chances, but she didn't have it, and she was broken easily. This match was the opposite because her serve was perfect.
It was the best serving performance in a very long time, and it gave the Latvian a lot of problems. She couldn't create enough pressure because she almost didn't even create a single break point in the entire match, which changed only in the last game.
That's precisely what the former World No. 1 needed to win this match. Ostapenko didn't even play poorly; she just couldn't touch Osaka on her serve. On her own serve, Ostapenko allowed minor chances, and her opponent was able to use them.
The Japanese player played superb tennis, taking all of her chances. She wasn't missing her shots either and hit about as many winners as her opponent did. It was her best performance in a very long time, and it came at the perfect moment.
To demonstrate how well Osaka played, one just needs to look at her first set. She won it 6-3 with three aces and 9 winners, with 0 unforced errors. She also won 13 of 14 points behind her first serve.
She won 7 of 9 points on her second serve, so in total, she dropped only 3 points behind her serve. That is too good against Ostapenko, who hit a winner every third point on average.
Even when Osaka's serve regressed a bit in the second set, the Japanese player was able to keep the level really high. She was hitting the ball well, even though this time around, she made a few unforced errors.
Ostapenko was good as well, but again, she couldn't create any pressure. As the second set went on, Osaka found her groove on the serve and kept blasting aces.
She added another break to make it 5-2 and efficiently won the match in two sets, 6-3, 6-2. This was the most impressive match she played since the Roland Garros match against Iga Swiatek.
She served exceptionally well, hit the ball really well, and just smashed a player who is a borderline Top 10 to reach the second round of the tournament, setting up a clash with Karolina Muchova.
Naomi Osaka vs Jelena Ostapenko Match Stats:
| Naomi Osaka | Jelena Ostapenko | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Aces | 5 |
| 0 | Double Faults | 6 |
| 62% | First Serve % | 62% |
| 81% (25/31) | Points Won After First Serve % | 61% (19/31) |
| 74% (14/19) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 47% (9/19) |
| 100% (3/3) | Break Point Conversion | 0% (0/2) |
| 18 | Winners | 21 |
| 5 | Unforced Errors | 21 |
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