Naomi Osaka ponders break from tennis after U.S. Open loss
 

[September 04, 2021]  Reigning U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka experienced another down moment in a difficult summer, losing her third-round match on Friday night in New York and then saying she was unsure when she would step back on the court.

The third-seeded Japanese player fell 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-4 to Canadian teen Leylah Fernandez.

"Basically I feel like I'm kind of at this point where I'm trying to figure out what I want to do, and I honestly don't know when I'm going to play my next tennis match," Osaka said. "I think I'm going to take a break from playing for a while. ...

"I feel like for me recently, like, when I win I don't feel happy," Osaka said. "I feel more like a relief. And then when I lose, I feel very sad. I don't think that's normal."

Fernandez, an 18-year-old who is ranked 73rd in the world, is headed to the fourth round of a Grand Slam event for the first time in her career. She won her first career WTA Tour title in March at Monterrey, Mexico, but since then she had a 5-8 match record prior to the U.S. Open.

"Honestly, I wasn't focusing on Naomi," Fernandez said. "I was only focusing on myself and what I needed to do."

Osaka, 23, won the Australian Open in February for her third Grand Slam championship. However, she withdrew after the second round of the French Open, citing a need to focus on her mental health, then skipped Wimbledon.

She returned to action in the Tokyo Olympics in front of her home-country fans. However, Osaka lost in the third round there, then fell in the third round at Cincinnati and now in the third round in New York.

Osaka had a chance to put away Fernandez, serving for the match at 6-5 in the second set, but Fernandez broke serve to set up a tiebreaker that she dominated, winning the first five points.

Fernandez recorded the only service break of the third set in the first game. Her opponent in the round of 16 will be 16th-seeded Angelique Kerber. The German, who won the 2016 U.S. Open, advanced with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 win over Sloane Stephens of the United States.
 

Looking ahead to opposing Kerber, Fernandez said, "I'm going to put on a show like I did tonight, and we're going to see how it goes."

Stephens, the 2017 U.S. Open champion, hit more winners than Kerber (36-24) but also had more unforced errors (39-30).

Ninth-seeded Garbine Muguruza delivered seven aces while dispatching three-time event finalist Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

Muguruza had 34 winners against 24 unforced errors in the two-hour, 17-minute match while advancing to the round of 16 for the second time in her career. The Spaniard also got that far in 2017.

Azarenka, the No. 18 seed from Belarus, had 23 winners and 30 unforced errors. Her serve was an issue as she had nearly twice as many double faults (seven) as aces (four).

The third set was tied 2-2 before Muguruza won the last four games to finish off Azarenka, a U.S. Open finalist in 2012, 2013 and 2020.

Muguruza next faces eighth-seeded Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic. Krejcikova rolled over lucky loser Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia 6-4, 6-2 in just 74 minutes.
 

Also putting on a strong performance was 12th-seeded Simona Halep, who recorded a 7-6 (11), 4-6, 6-3 victory over No. 19 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan.

The Romanian recently returned from calf and adductor injuries, but her fitness was solid against the powerful Rybakina, who registered 14 aces.

Halep lost the first three games in the opening set and saved four set points before eventually recovering to win a marathon tiebreaker.

After losing the second set, Halep dropped the first game of the final set before winning the next four en route to closing it out.

Halep next faces fifth-seeded Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who cruised to a 6-4, 6-2 triumph over No. 25 seed Daria Kasatkina of Russia. Svitolina had 25 winners and 14 unforced errors while Kasatkina had 26 winners and 22 unforced errors.

In the last women's match of the night, second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus knocked out the United States' Danielle Collins 6-3, 6-3.

--Field Level Media

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