Some players like to focus on the present, but Naomi Osaka believes the key to her latest US Open win was remembering past events.
The four-time Grand Slam champion moved into the third round by battling past Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 in a roller-coaster encounter. Osaka started on good footing by clinching the opening set in just over 30 minutes before struggling with her second serve midway through the match, winning six out of 20 points during the second set. Furthermore, 20 of her 29 unforced errors were produced during the middle set.
Despite the blip, Osaka managed to regroup and broke Siniakova twice in the decider to seal a far-from-perfect victory. She has now won 80 Grand Slam main draw matches in her career and is closing in on the Open Era record for a female Japanese tennis player. Ai Sugiyama won 84 matches during her career.
“Every match is very different, but I am able to play or pull from the matches that I’ve played in the past. I think obviously when it gets to the third set, I try to think of all of the matches I was able to pull through,” Osaka explained after her latest win.
“The scoreline, I wasn’t really paying attention too much in the second set, but I do think that I was ahead, and I kind of let it slip through my fingers. So I was trying to tell myself in the third set to keep going and keep trying to take the opportunities.”
The 28-year-old is contesting her 35 Grand Slam main draw this year in Flushing Meadows. She has won both the Australian Open and US Open twice, as well as reaching the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time this year. Having played more than 100 matches across these events, there is one particular encounter that helps her when she is experiencing difficulty on the court.
“I’m quite fortunate to have a lot of high-quality matches that went in my favour,” she said.
“Whenever I think of going into the third set and I need to regroup, I literally only specifically think of the 2021 Australian Open Final.
“Then you can just pull from your memory bank for every certain situation that you need to get finished.
“That’s the best thing about being a more experienced player. You’ve been able to play so many different matches in different situations.”
Osaka is seeded 13th in this year’s draw and is defending semi-final points. She will next play Elise Mertens.
“Here (at the US Open) I’ve had a lot of good memories, and I hope to continue making them.” She concluded.
