The two-time champ is BACK at Flushing Meadows! 🏆🏆 2018 and 2020 US Open champion, Naomi Osaka, is back on the court ahead of this season's final Grand Slam tournament 🇺🇸
"She’s going through some doubtful times": Evert analyzes Osaka’s form before US Open
WTAFriday, 23 August 2024 at 01:30
Chris Evert
analyzed Naomi Osaka's chances at the US Open as she navigates "some
doubtful times." The 4-time Grand Slam champion returns to play at
Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2022, after missing the 2023 edition
due to the birth of her first child.
There are
doubts about what Osaka can achieve in New York. A champion in 2018 and 2020,
she arrives this time as world No. 85, with an 18-15 record for the season,
alternating between victories against strong opponents and disappointing
losses.
Osaka faces challenges at US Open
Osaka had a
notable performance at Roland Garros, where she had match point against the
nearly unbeatable Iga Swiatek on clay, though she ultimately exited in the
first round. The Japanese player has not had deep runs in recent months, but
Flushing Meadows could be the perfect stage for her to bring out her best
level.
18-time
Grand Slam champion Chris Evert was cautious about Osaka's upcoming appearance:
"She’s going through some doubtful times," Evert recently commented
in the Los Angeles Times. "We’ll see if she can get that magic because it
is the U.S. Open. She has won this title, so let’s see if she can get that
magic going. I think her story, her journey, remains to be seen."
"I
know she has the game, but it takes more than the game. It takes a lot of
confidence and a lot of focus. We’ll see," the former world No. 1 added.
"She’s in a different part of her life right now where it seems she’s so
calm and she’s so relaxed and happy and peaceful."
Osaka won her third Grand Slam title at 2020 US Open.
"The
mental problems haven’t really affected her. She has a child, which she is
madly in love with. Sometimes when you are too happy, that can’t always be good
either, I don’t know, for us to be intense and fierce," Chrissie Evert
added. "Naomi has shown us so much compassion and kindness during her
career that I think that’s going to translate into caring for another human
being. I think she’s going to be an awesome mom.
"I
think it’s going to be very freeing for her, in the sense that she can now
focus on a human being that is more important than anything else in the
world," added the 69-year-old American. "And she’s not just focusing
on tennis, the pressures, the expectations, all the challenges that she faced
before, the anxiety. I think having a child is the most freeing and the most
loving act that can happen to you. It’s going to be very healthy and almost
healing for her."
With the US
Open main draw revealed, Osaka was drawn to face the 11th seed Jelena
Ostapenko. Interestingly, they have only met once before, back in 2016, when
both were just starting their professional careers, and Ostapenko won in the
first round of the French Open.
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