Naomi Osaka smacked her racket against Arthur Ashe Stadium’s court. Moments later, she chucked her equipment, sending it bouncing and skidding halfway to the net. Then came a full-on spike near the baseline.
Osaka’s game was off. Her composure was gone. By the end, the crowd was booing her for turning her back to the court and taking too much time between points.
Soon enough, Osaka’s title defense at the U.S. Open was over in the third round with a 5-7, 6-7 (2), 6-4 loss Friday night to Leylah Fernandez, an 18-year-old from Canada who is ranked 73rd and never had been this far in Grand Slam competition.
Still, Fernandez declared afterward: “Right before the match, I knew I was able to win.”
Osaka? She came in with a 16-match winning streak at majors and four career trophies, all on hard courts. But this was Osaka’s first Slam tournament since she pulled out of the French Open before the second round to take a mental health break — she also sat out Wimbledon, before participating in the Tokyo Olympics, where she lit the cauldron — and maybe the time off was an issue.
Another possible factor in her failure to close things out while serving for the victory against the left-hander Fernandez at 6-5 in the second set: Osaka hadn’t competed since Monday. That’s because the woman she was supposed to meet in the second round, Olga Danilovic, withdrew because she was sick.
Osaka, who left the court after seven games to change outfits and put on a highlighter-yellow dress, was quite good down the stretch in the opening set. She grabbed 12 of the last 13 points, including the last nine, with a break at love to go up 6-5, and a hold at love with the help of a pair of aces at 112 mph and 114 mph to end it.
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Seemed on track for a similar conclusion in the second set, leading 6-5 and serving. But when she sailed a forehand wide, Fernandez had her first break of the match to make it 6-all.
“I guess I wanted to stay on court a little bit longer. And I wanted to put on a show for everybody here,” Fernandez said. “One hour was not enough for me to be on court.”
And so began Osaka’s downward spiral. She fell behind 5-0 in the ensuing tiebreaker, missing shots and displaying her frustration as she occasionally has done in the past — by flinging her racket.
Chair umpire Alison Hughes did not sanction Osaka then, although later a warning was issued for hitting a ball into the stands.
“Honestly, I wasn’t focusing on Naomi,” Fernandez said. “I was only focusing on myself and what I needed to do.”
More to the point, Osaka was not at her best. She left the court with a white towel draped over her head after the second set, then sat in her changeover chair in that same block-out-the-world manner, and never really got her game going the rest of the way.
Fernandez certainly had something to do with that, particularly because of her serve.
She won 18 of 19 first-serve points — and never faced a break point — in the third set.
Fernandez’s knee-to-the-ground, quick-redirect style at the baseline is reminiscent of another lefty, Angelique Kerber, a three-time Grand Slam champion who won the 2016 U.S. Open.
And who just so happens to be the next opponent for Fernandez.
“I’m going to put on a show like I did tonight,” Fernandez said, “and we’re going to see how it goes.”
Osaka threw her racket at least three times and was finally hit with a code violation in the third set when she hit the ball into the stands. She even draped a towel over her head as she took a break following her second-set loss.
Osaka played her first Grand Slam since she pulled out of the French Open in late May for a mental health break.
Fernandez used her left-handed serve to defeated two-time US Open quarterfinalist Kaia Kanepi in straight sets before knocking off Osaka. She waved her arms and pumped her fist toward fans that cheered louder for her on every late point.
Osaka glumly walked to the locker room while Fernandez smiled and flashed two thumbs up in celebration.
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