Naomi Osaka begins US Open title defense with first-round win over Marie Bouzkova
withdrew from Wimbledon in June, pulled out of the French Open in July, and bowed out of the Tokyo Olympics in the third round. Her most recent tournament, the Western Southern Open in Cincinnati, ended in a stunning defeat against Jil Teichmann, who prevailed vs. Osaka 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Sloane Stephens gets the best of close friend Madison Keys
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Bouzková gave her a good fight at first, and seemed to handle Osaka’s prodigious power well, but the momentum shifted strongly in Osaka’s favor in the ninth game of the first set. The score was tied, 4-4, and Bouzková had a break point at 30-40, but then Osaka fired two aces and a service winner to take the game (and reinforce that the reigning 2020 U.S. Open women’s champion would not be going anywhere).
She closed out the set minutes later with the help of a wicked backhand winner and lost only one more game from there, closing out the match with a sizzling crosscourt forehand. She will play a qualifier next, against Olga Danilovic of Serbia.