Labubu was one of many speaking factors of the just-concluded US Open. So was Naomi Osaka.
The No. 23 seed made heads flip together with her stirring run in New York earlier than developing quick within the semifinal towards native favorite Amanda Anisimova. From languishing within the low 800s after being away from the sport for 17 months on maternity go away, Osaka has soared to 14th on this planet rankings after her spectacular efficiency in New York. The 27-year-old shall be aiming to construct on her type and plot her manner again to the place she belonged as soon as within the sport – the highest.
Importantly, the previous World No. 1 is taking a lot of inspiration from her defeats. The most up-to-date one by the hands of Anisimova seems to have given her the assumption that she nonetheless has it in her to win Grand Slam titles.
Osaka went down in a close to three-hour battle regardless of blasting extra aces than her opponent and committing fewer unforced errors. She selected to concentrate on the positives regardless of the heartbreaking defeat.
“I don’t feel sad. I just feel that I did the best that I could,” Osaka mentioned after the match. “Honestly, it’s kind of inspiring for me because it makes me want to train and try to get better… give it my very best shot again and see what happens. I can’t be mad or upset at myself.”
She was away from the game for an prolonged interval following the start of her daughter, solely returning to the tour in January 2024. The comeback, nonetheless, wasn’t clean. She was unable to win the matches the place she regarded the favorite and shifting up the rankings ladder was slower than anticipated.
“When all the moms came back (to the tour after giving birth) and they did well kind of off the bat, I sort of felt like there was something wrong with me,” Osaka had mentioned after her quarterfinal win over eleventh seed Karolina Muchova.
“I know that Belinda (Bencic, who gave birth in April 2024) made the semifinal of Wimbledon (2025, her second Grand Slam appearance since returning to the tour). I just really felt like I was losing a race in some sort of weird way. That was on my mind, and now I’m here and I feel like a weight’s been lifted off my shoulders.”
Before the defeat to Anisimova on the US Open, a second-round loss to Emma Raducanu in Washington, in July, appeared to have served her effectively.
“I called a round-table of my team, and I was just very confused (about) how confident I was in myself,” Osaka mentioned through the New York marketing campaign. “Because, even though I lost, I remember telling them, ‘I think I can beat anyone from the baseline still, and we just have to figure out if I have to change my game plan or if I just have to do something new and different.’”
That prompted the choice to usher in as her coach Tomasz Wiktorowski, who beforehand labored with Iga Swiatek. Osaka mentioned that Wiktorowski had helped her develop into extra environment friendly when returning serve and be extra affected person in rallies. They have labored collectively in solely two tournaments to date and the outcomes have been spectacular. Osaka reached the ultimate of the Montreal Masters, which helped her earn a seeding at a Grand Slam for the primary time for the reason that 2022 Australian Open. And her deep run within the season’s final Major might present the impetus that she is in search of and might be the springboard for elevated success and probably match victories.
“Getting far in the US Open was definitely a confidence booster. But the season’s not done yet,” she mentioned after the exit on the US Open. “I don’t know what ranking I’m up at, but I think I’m getting up there. Doing well in the Asian swing and then closing off the rest of the year is my goal now,” Osaka mentioned, waiting for the remainder of the season.
Having gained 4 Grand Slam singles titles (two every on the US Open and Australian Open), Osaka shall be eager to better her file on the French Open, the place her greatest exhibiting up to now has been reaching the third spherical, and additionally at Wimbledon, which hasn’t seen her advance previous the third spherical.
The power-hitting Japanese has seen all of it since her spectacular rise. After breaking by with a title run on the 2018 US Open, she scaled the height of the game and regarded set to rule earlier than issues started to go pear-shaped. Indifferent type and accidents pegged her again. That wasn’t all. She grappled with psychological well being points, too. She walked away from the game early in 2023 as a consequence of being pregnant and would return solely in January 2024. After a season with combined outcomes and extra lows than highs, Osaka pulled the curtains down on the (2024) season early as a consequence of a again damage.
This 12 months started on a promising word as she reached the ultimate of the Auckland Open earlier than falling to Clara Tauson. It was the primary time she superior to a last since 2022. However, she was compelled to retire mid-way as a consequence of an damage.
While a third-round look on the Australian Open adopted, match success continued to elude her. Things rotated on the WTA 125 Open de Saint-Malo, the place she gained her first title for the reason that 2021 Australian Open.
After the Canadian Open, she progressed to the ultimate earlier than the fast-rising Victoria Mboko stopped her run. She constructed on the efficiency within the last Major of the 12 months.
She got here up with commanding shows within the first two rounds with straight set wins earlier than Daria Kasatkina got here in her manner. After sweeping the primary set with out dropping a sport, she held off a preventing Kasatkina. Then got here the high-profile conflict towards Coco Gauff, which noticed Osaka dismantle the third-seeded American in straight units in a medical show.
“These are the moments that I play tennis for,” she mentioned after crushing Gauff. It was a signal that she was again to her greatest and might tackle and beat the very best within the enterprise.
She carried her good type into the semis and was concerned in an intense battle towards Anisimova earlier than developing quick. Though she didn’t emulate Kim Clijsters in successful a Slam after changing into a mom, just like the Belgian did in 2009, 2010 and 2011, Osaka’s splendid run at Flushing Meadows will give her hope of doing that very quickly.
Recent years have seen a number of gamers lay their fingers on Grand Slam singles trophies, with there being no duopoly like within the males’s sport, the place Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have pulled away from the remainder of the sphere.
Osaka might as soon as again break into the winner’s circle on the Majors, if she will be able to fend off the challenges posed by World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, Swiatek, Gauff and Jessica Pegula, the present main names on the ladies’s circuit.
How Osaka fares in the remainder of the 2025 season and her skill to deal with seasoned opponents would supply solutions to the query of whether or not she might return to the elite. But given her good exhibiting in New York, that might be inside the realms of chance.
The tennis star from the Land of the Rising Sun is primed to rise to the highest of the game again, having been ranked the No. 1 for 25 weeks earlier, and perhaps carry extra Labubus to Slams.
