Two-time U.S. Open champ Naomi Osaka cruises past Jelena Ostapenko in Flushing return

Tears streamed down Naomi Osaka’s face as she walked off the Louis Armstrong Stadium court.

The former top-ranked tennis player had just cruised past Jelena Ostapenko in the opening round of the U.S. Open, kicking off her long-awaited return to a tournament she’s won twice.

It was her first time playing at Flushing Meadows since giving birth last summer.

“I grew up here,” said Osaka, who spent part of her childhood in nearby Elmont, N.Y. “Just seeing kids – and then remembering my daughter – but seeing kids coming and watching me, and just remembering [when] I was a kid, I guess a long time ago, made me very emotional.”

Osaka, 26, won her first U.S. Open title in 2018, when she defeated Serena Williams in the final. She won again in 2020 but has not advanced past the third round since.

She did not compete in the two-week tournament in Queens last year because she was on maternity leave, having welcomed her daughter, Shai, that July.

Since returning this year, Osaka has been eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open; in the second rounds of the French Open and Wimbledon; and, this month, during qualifying at the Cincinnati Open.

She entered the U.S. Open as the world’s 88th-ranked player, competing as a wild card.

But on Tuesday afternoon, Osaka returned to her superstar form.

Osaka knocked off the 10th-seeded Ostapenko in straight sets — 6-3, 6-2 — in front of a packed crowd that grew progressively louder as she neared victory.

She won 80% of her points on her first serve and 100% of her break-point opportunities.

She recorded nine aces.

She committed only five unforced errors, compared to Ostapenko’s 21.

And she needed only an hour and four minutes to win the star-powered matchup in straight sets, freezing on the court and looking to the sky upon earning her final point.

“This court is my home,” said the Japanese-born Osaka, who moved to Long Island at age 4. “It gives me so much more confidence. … Having two wins here, it means a lot. For me, I’ve been struggling with confidence throughout this year, and this time forces me to look in the mirror and say, ‘Hey, you’ve done really well here. There’s no reason you can’t do well again.’ ”

Osaka arrived Tuesday in a flamboyant lime-green outfit covered in bows, along with a pair of Harajuku-inspired headphones – a look from a collaboration between Nike and the AMBUSH designer Yoon Ahn.

She described the outfit as a “super suit.”

“I do remember thinking I need to win this match so I can wear my other color,” Osaka quipped afterward. “That was very important to me, so yeah, I guess you’ll see my other color next time.”

At her post-match press conference, Osaka took the podium in a Kobe Bryant jersey, again honoring the late Lakers star after doing the same at last week’s U.S. Open Mixed Madness event.

“Louis Armstrong was the same court that he came and watched my match [at the 2019 U.S. Open], and I honestly remember being a little bit in disbelief that he was coming specifically to watch my match,” Osaka said. “Just to feel that support was unreal. I always wear Kobe jerseys to matches and practices because I feel, a little bit, that I can kind of keep his spirit with me.”

Last year, Osaka attended the U.S. Open as a fan, watching from the stands as eventual tournament champion Coco Gauff defeated Karolina Muchova in the semifinal. At the time, Osaka wondered if she’d ever be able to return to an elite level of play.

Tuesday was a step in the right direction.

“It’s been so much hard work, so much dreams and wishes,” Osaka said. “I hope that I can continue.”