Naomi Osaka, of Japan, reacts after scoring a point against Hailey Baptiste, of the United States, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

So far, so good for Naomi Osaka and her new coach at the US Open

NEW YORK (AP) — Naomi Osaka is back in the third round of the U.S. Open for the first time since 2021, the year after she won her second championship at Flushing Meadows.

She’s playing rather well at the moment, too, under the guidance of a new coach. Just don’t expect Osaka to weigh in on whether she feels as if she is ready to make another deep run at the place.

“Honestly, I don’t really know. I don’t make it my business to know anymore. I kind of just leave it up in the air,” the 23rd-seeded Osaka said after eliminating Hailey Baptiste 6-3, 6-1 in the second round in just 70 minutes Thursday. “For me, I realize that I’ve done everything that I could. I’ve trained really hard. I practiced really hard. If it happens, it happens.”

Osaka’s four Grand Slam trophies all arrived on hard courts: two at the U.S. Open, two at the Australian Open. Since her 2020 title in New York, her trips there have gone this way: losses in the third round in 2021, first round in 2022, second round last year.

The surface tends to favor the big serves and powerful, first-strike tennis Osaka is best known for, and something she displayed against Baptiste, of course, although she also demonstrated a willingness to vary speeds and spins.

The other talent Osaka is using to great effect so far this week is returning that gets an opponent on the defensive. Osaka already has won 11 of the 18 return games she’s played so far, including during a 6-3, 6-4 win over Greet Minnen in the first round.

After her third-round exit at Wimbledon last month, Osaka split from coach Patrick Mouratoglou and began working with Tomasz Wiktorowski, who used to be part of Iga Swiatek’s team.

One key, Osaka said: Wiktorowski has encouraged her to focus more on the placement of her shots “and not necessarily going for winners most of the time.”

They appear to be making quick progress — and Osaka said her impression of him changed quickly.

“Honestly, I didn’t know him, I thought he was very scary, because he’s very tall and he didn’t smile,” she said. “Now that we’re working together, I see that he smiles often. He has a very friendly smile, and it’s very nice. That’s my little fun fact about Tomasz.”

Venus Williams gets a US Open women’s doubles victory

Venus Williams earned her first win in a U.S. Open women’s doubles match since 2014 — and this time, her partner wasn’t younger sister Serena but Leylah Fernandez. The 45-year-old Williams, who recently returned to the tour after a 16-month absence, and Fernandez eliminated the sixth-seeded pair of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Ellen Perez 7-6 (4), 6-3.

What else happened at the US Open on Thursday?

Wimbledon champions Swiatek and Jannik Sinner both won — his victory was much more straightforward than hers. Swiatek had some trouble before getting past Suzan Lamens, a Dutch player ranked 66th who’d never appeared at a Grand Slam tournament until this year, by a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 score. Sinner was just fine in a 6-3, 6-2, 6-2 win against Alexei Popyrin, who beat Novak Djokovic at the U.S. Open a year ago. In prime time, Coco Gauff fought through serving issues and wiped away tears on the way to beating Donna Vekic 7-6 (5), 6-2, and fellow American Amanda Anisimova defeated Maya Joint 7-6 (2), 6-2, while on the men’s side and on the men’s side No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev rolled past Jacob Fearnley 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 and 14th-seeded Tommy Paul needed nearly 4 1/2 hours to put away Nuno Borges 7-6 (6), 6-3, 5-7, 5-7, 7-5 early Friday morning after winning the first two sets and losing the next two. The match ended at 1:46 a.m.

Who is on Friday’s schedule at the US Open?

Carlos Alcaraz, the 2022 men’s champion, and Jessica Pegula, the 2024 women’s runner-up, play their third-round matches in Arthur Ashe Stadium during the day session. Djokovic, owner of 24 Grand Slam titles, meets Cam Norrie in Ashe at night, followed by American Taylor Townsend — who got into a back-and-forth with her opponent, Jelena Ostapenko, after their second-round match — against No. 5 seed Mirra Andreeva, an 18-year-old from Russia.

___

More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Jannik Sinner, of Italy, returns a shot to Alexei Popyrin, of Australia, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Iga Swiatek, of Poland, returns a shot to Suzan Lamens, of the Netherlands, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Venus Williams, of the United States, left, and Leylah Fernandez, of Canada, talk on the court during a first round women’s doubles match against Lyudmyla Kichenok, of the Czech Republic and Ellen Perez, of Australia, during the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Denis Shapovalov, of Canada, poses for a photo with fans after defeating Valentin Royer, of France, during the second round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

News from © The Associated Press, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?

Create a free account

The Associated Press

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.

Related Articles