Osaka already was thinking about being back on a court at Flushing Meadows, so much so that she was pondering what she might want to wear to compete.
“I feel like being able to be a part of [designing] my tennis outfits gives me, I would say, a different strength, especially the U.S. Open outfits. I feel like they are a little bit more flamboyant. When I was putting on my outfit today, I was, like, ‘Ah, I hope this isn’t too much,’” Osaka said with a smile. “Because I had the tutu, and then I had the bow jacket, and it was green. I feel like everyone was staring at me.”
Another player asked for a photo, Osaka said, adding: “I hope it was a positive picture [and] it wasn’t, like, ‘Oh, my God, look at her.’ For me, when I put on the outfit, it’s almost like a super suit, so I try to channel that.”
She did that well enough Tuesday to register her first victory against a top-10 opponent in more than four years.
“Having two wins here means a lot, and I think for me, I’ve been struggling with confidence throughout the year,” said Osaka, who returned to action at the Australian Open in January, her first Grand Slam appearance in nearly 1 1/2 years because of mental-health breaks and time away to have a baby. “This time now forces me to look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, you’ve done really well here. There’s no reason why you can’t do well again.'”
How’s this for doing well? Osaka did not make a single unforced error in the first set and finished with only five, 16 fewer than Ostapenko.
“I do remember thinking, ‘I need to win this match so I can wear my other color.’ That was very important to me,” said Osaka, who is ranked 88th and received a wild-card invitation from the U.S. Tennis Association. “I guess you’ll see my other color next time.”
Next time will be Thursday against 2023 French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova, a 6–3, 7–5 winner over Katie Volynets of the U.S.
Another American who recently announced her retirement, Shelby Rogers, lost the final match of her career by a 6–4, 6–3 score to No. 6 Jessica Pegula at night, after four-time major champion Carlos Alcaraz defeated qualifier Li Tu 6–2, 4–6, 6–3, 6–1 in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Pegula meets Kenin next.
Other seeded men advancing included No. 5 Daniil Medvedev, No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz, No. 14 Tommy Paul, and No. 25 Jack Draper, but No. 11 Stefanos Tsitsipas and No. 19 Felix Auger-Aliassime both lost, as did No. 23 Karen Khachanov, who came out on the wrong end of the longest U.S. Open match, by time, since tiebreakers were instituted in 1970.
“When you’re a kid, you’re just told to fight until the end. I mean, that’s sort of Rule 1. I’ve done that pretty consistently for my career,” Evans said. “It sort of paid off a bit today.”