By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, August 23, 2025Photo credit score: Omnium Banque Nationale Fb
Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka stands alone on this US Open discipline.
The Twenty fifth-ranked Osaka is the lone lady over the previous decade to win two US Open championships.
Assembly the media in Flushing Meadows at this time, Osaka stated she’s in a superb place bodily and mentally and feels invigorated working with new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, who guided Iga Swiatek to a number of main championships.Â
“I believe mentally, bodily, I imply, I’m working with a brand new coach. He’s actually nice,” Osaka stated. “I don’t know. He’s simply extremely useful. He cuts to the chase, and he makes me really feel like he’s form of anencyclopedia of tennis, so it’s good to have somebody like that in your nook.
“Bodily, I really feel actually good. I really feel like I’m attending to balls in a short time, in order that’s very useful, as a result of it makes me really feel not as pressured to attempt to finish the purpose. Given we form of adapt our, like, sport plan to who I’m enjoying, yeah, it must be a extremely fascinating event.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion is coming off an intriguing run to the Montreal last that concluded in controversy.
Eighteen-year-old Canadian Vicky Mboko scored a shocking 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over her tennis hero, Osaka, to seize the Canadian Open and cap a historic Cinderella story end in entrance of a house crowd. Mboko defeated 4 Grand Slam champion—Sofia Kenin, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina and Osaka—en path to that championship turning into the second-youngest lady in WTA historical past, after Serena Williams on the 1999 US Open, to realize that feat.
Through the trophy presentation, Osaka spoke for less than about 20 seconds and didn’t congratulate the Canadian wild card on her maiden championship. At present, Osaka stated had blended feelings over her Montreal last run feeling each “disgrace” for neglecting to congratulate Mboko and success for securing a seed on the US Open by advantage of her last end.
“My largest objective was to be seeded in a event, and that’s one thing that form of I knewimmediately,” Osaka stated. “Then no, as a result of I simply felt actually unhealthy and, like, disgrace. I believe I felt worse for my group, as a result of we couldn’t actually have a good time correctly.
“They have been with me this whole time, in order that they knew how large of a deal the ultimate was. Simply knowingthat I can return to I don’t need to say “that degree,” however simply know that I may be there.”
The day after the Montreal last, Osaka issued an apology and congratulations to Mboko on social media. Osaka stated at this time she feels “horrible” in regards to the post-match speech and later spoke to {the teenager} personally to supply congratulations.
“Like, I really feel actually horrible if that, like, in some way impacted her humongous success,” Osaka stated. “However she stated it didn’t and she or he didn’t even actually discover, so I used to be actually glad about that. I used to be additionally actually glad that she’s such a candy lady, which additionally simply made me really feel horrible much more.
“Yeah, I don’t know. I really feel like for me, I used to be simply attempting to get by means of it so shortly that I overlook numerous issues. And even going into the ultimate, I needed to, like, probably write my speech, as a result of I understand how I’m speaking and doing speeches. In order that was, like, form of a lesson to stay to my intuition just a little.”
Osaka, who opens in opposition to Greet Minnen on Louis Armstrong Stadium, stated she’ll make two changes the following time she performs a last: write a speech prematurely and “I’ll positively keep in mind to congratulate my opponents.”
