NEW YORK—Naomi Osaka walked off the court, headed toward the locker room and layed down, draping a towel over her face.
Out-hit in Arthur Ashe Stadium by another big hitter, Danielle Collins, two-time U.S. Open champion Osaka was left to contemplate a second consecutive first-round loss at a Grand Slam tournament.
Collins reached her first major final at the Australian Open in January and displayed that same sort of hard-court talent with a 7–6 (5), 6–3 victory over Osaka in a shotmaking showdown that ended after Tuesday turned to Wednesday at Flushing Meadows.
USA’s Danielle Collins walks onto the court ahead of her 2022 US Open Tennis tournament women’s singles first round match against Japan’s Naomi Osaka at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York, August 30, 2022. (Corey Sipkin/AFP via Getty Images)
“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….