Tennis-Osaka holds her nerve to reach US Open third round

Tennis - U.S. Open - Flushing Meadows, New York, United States - September 3, 2026 Japan's Naomi Osaka in action during her second round match against Czech Republic's Katerina Siniakova REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

NEW YORK, Sept ⁠3 (Reuters) - Two-time champion Naomi Osaka overcame a flurry of mistakes to fight pastCzech ⁠Katerina Siniakova 6-2 5-7 6-1, finding her mettle to reach the third ‌round of the U.S. Open on Thursday.

The 13th seed has spent years taming her owntendency toward self-recrimination, and showed the best evidence of her new career outlook as she reclaimed her composure with a bathroom ​break before the third set at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"The match ⁠was definitely really tough. I ⁠don't know, I just felt like I had to fight," said Osaka, who will next ⁠play ‌Belgian EliseMertens.

"I think I was a little bit too hard on myself, so I took the bathroom break, tried to regroup and have no regrets."

The winner ⁠in 2018 and 2020 was pristine through the first set, ​with just four unforced ‌errors, as she broke her opponent to love in the fourth game. The ⁠Czech did herself ​no favours with three double faults in the eighth game before letting Osaka break again on set point with an unforced error.

It was a different story in the second set, where ⁠Osaka's form dropped just as Siniakova hit her stride, ​and the Japanese 13th seed put up 20 unforced errors that gave the Czech too many chances.

After trading breaks twice in the second set, Osaka tapped her racket on the ⁠court in frustration after whacking a backhand into the net and handed Siniakova the break with another backhand error in the penultimate game.

Osaka went to the locker room before the third set, a decision that helped her move on.

"I just told myself that it's ​an honour to play on this court," said Osaka, who ⁠reached the semi-finals a year ago. "I just want to keep playing in front of you ​guys, if possible."

She emerged back on the court with ‌new resolve, sprinting through the first three games ​and saving two break points in the fifth before closing it out with an unreturnable serve.

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New YorkEditing by Christian Radnedge)

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网球——美国网球公开赛——美国纽约法拉盛草地网球场——2026年9月3日，日本选手大坂直美在第二轮比赛中对阵捷克选手卡特琳娜·西尼亚科娃。（路透社/香农·斯台普顿摄）

纽约，9 月 3 日（路透社）——两届冠军大坂直美克服了一连串的失误，以 6-2 5-7 6-1 的比分战胜捷克选手卡特琳娜·西尼亚科娃，在周四的美国网球公开赛上展现出顽强斗志，晋级第三轮。

这位 13 号种子选手多年来一直在努力克服自己自责的倾向，而她在阿瑟·阿什球场第三盘比赛前去洗手间调整状态，也充分展现了她新的职业态度。

“这场比赛确实非常艰难。我不知道，我就是觉得我必须战斗到底，”大阪直美说道，她下一场比赛的对手是比利时选手埃莉斯·梅尔滕斯。

“我觉得我对自己有点太苛刻了，所以我去了趟洗手间，试图重新调整状态，现在我一点也不后悔。”

这位2018年和2020年的冠军在首盘比赛中表现完美，仅有四次非受迫性失误，并在第四局以love game破发对手。捷克选手在第八局出现三次双误，随后又在盘点上因非受迫性失误被大阪直美再次破发，错失良机。

第二盘的情况就完全不同了，大阪的状态在西尼亚科娃渐入佳境之际下滑，这位日本13号种子选手出现了20次非受迫性失误，给了捷克选手太多机会。

在第二盘双方两次互破发球局后，大阪直美在一次反手击球下网后沮丧地将球拍敲在球场上，并在倒数第二局中再次反手失误，将破发机会拱手让给了西尼亚科娃。

大阪在第三盘比赛开始前去了更衣室，这个决定帮助她调整了心态，继续比赛。

“我一直告诉自己，能在这片球场上比赛是我的荣幸，”去年打进半决赛的大坂直美说道，“如果可以的话，我只想继续在你们面前比赛。”

她带着新的决心重返赛场，迅速拿下前三局，并在第五局挽救了两个破发点，最终以一记无法回击的发球结束了比赛。

（纽约 Amy Tennery 报道，Christian Radnedge 编辑）

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