US Open: Osaka needs two tiebreaks, and admits this is the round that makes her nervous

Naomi Osaka has won the US Open twice and reached the semi-finals here last year, and she still could not break serve on Tuesday night. The Japanese No. 13 seed came through 7-6 (6), 7-6 (3) against Anastasia Zakharova to reach the second round, taking the first tiebreak 8-6 and the second more comfortably.

The first set was the clearer illustration. Osaka led 3-0 and then 5-3 and was pegged back on both occasions, and in the tiebreak she went 6-4 up and needed three set points before she closed it out 8-6. The second set followed the same shape without the drama at the end: she was broken back at 2-1 and again at 5-4 before taking the tiebreak 7-3.

The numbers explain how her opponent stayed with her. Osaka landed 51% of her first serves and made 30 unforced errors, which was enough to keep a player ranked outside the seeds in touch for two hours despite Osaka being the better of the two from the back of the court whenever the rallies extended. She won the match without ever losing control of it, and without ever quite settling it either.

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She explained the tightness herself. “I just get really nervous during the first round of this tournament because I wanna do well,” Osaka said on court.

It is her 36th main-draw match at Flushing Meadows and takes her career record here to 29-7, the best she holds at any Grand Slam. She won the title in 2018 and 2020, and is 29-6 in the first round at the majors.

An outfit she had already explained

She arrived on court in a kit she had trailed at her pre-tournament press conference on Saturday, when she said the theme had come from her sponsor and that she had wanted to import the tunnel walk-ons of the NBA and WNBA to New York. Asked about it again after the win, she named the player behind it.

“It’s my tribute to Iverson. I really like him a lot,” Osaka said. “Nike said basketball. So I said, okay, you want basketball, I’ll give you basketball. I love expressing myself through clothes. I don’t like talking that much, I tell people.”

On Saturday she had described Allen Iverson as a trailblazer who “shifted the way that NBA players dress,” and had insisted the whole project carried no message. “Nothing I do I do it to make a statement,” she said then. “I think it just ends up being that way.”

Osaka plays Czech Katerina Siniakova in the second round.

US Open 2026, women’s draw, Round 1:

A. Sabalenka [1] d. C. Osorio: 6-2, 6-4
P. Iatcenko (Q) d. R. Zarazua: 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(7)
O. Selekhmeteva d. A. Ito: 6-2, 6-4
K. Rakhimova d. B. Krejcikova [27]: 7-6(4), 6-2
T. Townsend d. M. Chwalinska [20]: 6-2, 6-3
T. Preston (W) d. A. Parks: 6-3, 6-3
K. Pliskova d. H. Vandewinkel: 2-6, 7-5, 6-3
D. Shnaider [15] d. D. Snigur: 6-0, 6-4
M. Kostyuk [11] d. S. Hunter (Q): 6-4, 6-1
S. Stephens (W) d. C. Tauson: 6-4, 6-1
K. Birrell d. P. Marcinko: 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-3
E. Alexandrova [18] d. M. Kessler: 6-2, 6-2
A. Li [29] d. A. Ruzic: 7-5, 6-1
D. Vekic d. T. Gibson: 6-2, 4-6, 6-3
L. Tararudee d. E. Kalieva (Q): 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-2
L. Noskova [6] d. K. Volynets: 7-5, 6-1
J. Pegula [3] d. E. Ruse: 6-3, 6-2
S. Kenin (W) d. V. Williams (W): 6-2, 7-6(6)
M. Sawangkaew d. P. Udvardy: 6-4, 6-3
L. Fernandez [31] d. S. Zhang: 6-3, 6-2
J. Paolini [19] d. V. Erjavec: 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
L. Stefanini (Q) d. D. Yastremska: 6-3, 4-6, 6-1
D. Parry d. V. Golubic: 7-5, 6-4
S. Cirstea [16] d. J. Grabher: 6-3, 6-0
E. Svitolina [9] d. S. Sierra: 6-1, 6-2
M. Joint d. L. Samsonova: 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
X. Wang d. E. Arango: 6-4, 6-2
A. Kalinskaya [21] d. A. Blinkova: 6-4, 6-3
E. Navarro [26] d. L. Boisson: 7-6(6), 6-7(1), 6-3
C. McNally d. A. Koevermans (Q): 7-5, 6-1
K. Boulter d. C. Lee (W): 6-4, 3-6, 6-0
K. Muchova [7] d. S. Kraus: 6-3, 6-0
M. Andreeva [5] vs J. Tjen – not played
G. Knutson (Q) vs E. Lys – not played
N. Bartunkova vs M. Sherif – not played
T. Maria vs J. Ostapenko [30] – not played
A. Potapova [24] vs D. Semenistaja (L) – not played
A. Rus (Q) vs L. Jeanjean (W) – not played
L. Tagger d. T. Korpatsch: 6-0, 7-6(4)
A. Anisimova [10] d. A. Krueger: 6-1, 6-3
I. Jovic [14] vs M. Frech – not played
M. Linette vs F. Jones (Q) – not played
O. Oliynykova vs R. Brantmeier (W) – not played
M. Stoiana (Q) vs A. Eala [17] – not played
C. Bucsa d. S. Bejlek [28]: 7-5, 4-6, 6-1
H. Sakatsume (Q) d. A. Kalinina: 6-3, 6-3
D. Kasatkina vs P. Badosa – not played
Z. Sonmez vs C. Gauff [4] – not played
I. Swiatek [8] d. X. Wang: 6-2, 6-3
N. Podoroska d. S. Waltert: 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3
H. Dart (Q) d. P. Stearns: 3-6, 6-3, 6-2
M. Bouzkova [25] d. E. Jacquemot: 6-2, 6-2
M. Keys [22] vs A. Korneeva – not played
L. Havlickova (Q) vs A. Bondar – not played
Q. Zheng (Q) d. K. Liutova (Q): 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
Y. Putintseva vs B. Bencic [12] – not played
N. Osaka [13] d. A. Zakharova: 7-6(6), 7-6(3)
K. Siniakova d. E. Cocciaretto: 6-3, 6-2
M. Timofeeva d. T. Zidansek (Q): 6-3, 7-5
K. Quevedo vs E. Mertens [23] – not played
M. Sakkari [32] vs R. Montgomery (Q) – not played
Y. Starodubtseva vs E. Seidel – not played
D. Vidmanova vs J. Bouzas Maneiro – not played
T. Frodin (W) vs E. Rybakina [2] – not played