NEW YORK, NY, USA - World No.1 Naomi Osaka made a winning return to Arthur Ashe Stadium, taking down the unseeded Anna Blinkova in a nervy three sets to kick off her US Open title defense.

The victory didn’t come easily, however, as the top seed had to go the distance after dropping a tightly contested second set in a tiebreaker, but rallied to claim the victory 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-2. 

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“I don’t think I’ve ever been so nervous in my life,” Osaka quipped in her on-court interview, and later elaborated in press: "For me it's definitely a new feeling. Never had to come into a tournament as [the defending champion]. Well, come into a Grand Slam.

"I mean, I went to Indian Wells [as defending champion] once. So I did feel like that gave me a little bit of practice, but the amount of nerves that I felt today was completely different than in California. Yeah, I'm kind of really glad that's over."

A year ago on this same stage, Osaka capped off a stunning fortnight that saw her drop just one set in a head-turning run to the US Open title. She took down the likes of Aryna Sabalenka, former finalist Madison Keys and 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams along the way to her first career major title. 

Osaka returns today as the World No.1 after adding the Australian Open to her impressive career haul, but has struggled to regain the same world-beating form in 2019. She hasn’t reached a final after her Melbourne heroics, but showed inspiring flashes in the buildup to the Open, notching back-to-back quarterfinals in Toronto and Cincinnati. 

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"I think that there were a lot of experiences that I draw on," Osaka said. "Especially today I knew that, you know, she's never played on Ashe. I have been lucky enough to play on Ashe a couple of times.

"I just feel like I'm more used to the big atmosphere. I think that definitely helped me in certain moments. Yeah, I feel like I at least try to draw on the things that happened to me in the past."

Up against Blinkova, Osaka got off to a rocky start, quickly finding herself down 0-3 as the unseeded Russian broke early at 2-0. Osaka stayed patient, waiting for her chances before unloading on Blinkova’s more vulnerable second serves. She raised her level to get the break back at 3-4, and then reeled off the next three games in a row to steal away the set. 


The pair were deadlocked into a tightly-contested battle in the second set, with Blinkova doing well to keep apace with the World No.1, meeting her blow for blow. Both players had chances to take the reigns, but were unable to capitalize: Blinkova saw three break points across two games come and go, while Osaka failed to convert one of her own.

Osaka had to fight off a trio of set points as Blinkova rallied ahead to three break points at 5-4, but the defending champion pegged her back. They traded breaks towards the end of the set, with Osaka getting ahead at 6-5 and Blinkova fighting her way back into it a game later. This time in the tiebreak, it was Blinkova who powered to an early lead and held on, sending them into a third set. 

In the decider, it was all Osaka as the Japanese player’s big game got going, breaking twice to seal the match after two hours and 30 minutes. She outplayed her opponent from the ground, racking up 44 winners - keeping Blinkova contained to 15, and off-setting her 50 unforced errors. Her served proved key as well, firing eight aces and saving nine of 11 break points faced. 

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Up next, she’ll take on Poland’s Magda Linette in the second round. Linette, who lifted her first career WTA trophy at the NYJTL Bronx Open this past weekend, took down Astra Sharma, 6-3, 6-4 to advance.