NEW YORK - Japan's Naomi Osaka beat 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-3 6-2 on Louis Armstrong Stadium on Tuesday in a rare first-round US Open clash between former major champions.
A laser-focussed Osaka held serve throughout and fired nine aces in a surgical takedown to kick off her return to Flushing Meadows following a maternity leave year off in 2023.
Miscues including six double faults and 21 unforced errors plagued an uneven performance by the hard-hitting Latvian.
A back-and-forth first set turned in Osaka's favor as Ostapenko hit a cross-court backhand into the net in the eighth game, earning the four-time major winner the first of her three service breaks.
Former world number one Osaka gave a friendly New York crowd a glimpse of her past dominance in the second set as she blasted three straight aces to claim the fourth game.
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Ostapenko fought off two match points before Osaka slammed the door with a blistering cross-court forehand winner, setting up a second-round bout with Karolina Muchova.
An emotional Osaka said the adoring New York crowd fuelled her from the moment she stepped out on the court in a ruffled skirt and a jacket, shoes and headphones adorned in matching green bows.
"I was trying not to cry when I was walking out," she said.
"I remember last year I was watching Coco play and I so badly wanted to step on these courts again and I didn't know if I could."
Her emotional return to the tournament she won in 2018 and 2020 was nearly derailed by an uncooperative one-year-old.
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"Last night, my daughter didn't want to go to sleep on her bed time so I had to hold her for quite a while. I was like, oh wow, she really picked the perfect day not to go to sleep."
