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Miscues including six double faults and 21
unforced errors plagued an uneven performance by the
hard-hitting Latvian.
A back-and-forth first set turned in Osaka's favor as Ostapenko
hit a cross-court backhand into the net in the eighth game,
earning the four-time major winner the first of her three
service breaks.
Former world number one Osaka gave a friendly New York crowd a
glimpse of her past dominance in the second set as she blasted
three straight aces to claim the fourth game.
Ostapenko fought off two match points before Osaka slammed the
door with a blistering cross-court forehand winner, setting up a
second-round bout with Karolina Muchova.
An emotional Osaka said the adoring New York crowd fuelled her
from the moment she stepped out on the court in a ruffled skirt
and a jacket, shoes and headphones adorned in matching green
bows.
"I was trying not to cry when I was walking out," she said.
"I remember last year I was watching Coco play and I so badly
wanted to step on these courts again and I didn't know if I
could."
Her emotional return to the tournament she won in 2018 and 2020
was nearly derailed by an uncooperative one-year-old.
"Last night, my daughter didn't want to go to sleep on her bed
time so I had to hold her for quite a while. I was like, oh wow,
she really picked the perfect day not to go to sleep."
(Reporting by Karl Plume in New YorkEditing by Toby Davis) [© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
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