Naomi Osaka still can’t get her Grand Slam act together.
She got a rough draw in facing late-blooming American Danielle Collins and the players slugged it out in magnificent fashion.
Collins, who made the finals of the Australian Open in January and was the 19th seed in Queens, was too ferocious. Collins copped the first-set tiebreaker and eliminated the unseeded Osaka 7-6, 6-3 in a match that ended at 12:30 a.m. Wednesday.
“I’m the type of person that thinks a lot, to the point where I overthink. Sometimes when I play matches, I have to tell myself to stop thinking, just go more on instinct,” said Osaka, who’s been bothered by a bad back lately. “I feel like I just have to chill a little bit, because there’s a lot of like random chaos in my head right now.”
The players didn’t take the court until nearly 11 p.m. at Arthur Ashe Stadium, but the quality of tennis was terrific. Collins returned serve with a flourish and the 27-year-old prevailed after losing all three of her prior matchups against the former Queens resident who is a Japanese citizen.
Meanwhile, Osaka, who has won two U.S. Open titles (2018, 2020) but has suffered from mental-health issues, spent a lot of the match screaming after her mistakes in Japanese and English.
Last season, Osaka took two extended mental health breaks, including after her third-round exit in New York. This season, Osaka lost in the third round in Australia, the first round at the French Open, then sat out Wimbledon.
“Lately, I felt really restrained. I’m not really sure why,” Osaka said. “I’m beginning to feel like I can’t hit the shots that I know I can, like especially on my forehand.”
— with AP