NEW YORK -- Naomi Osaka, the defending champion, made a winning return in Grand Slam tennis. She defeated Marie Bouzkova 6-4 and 6-1 Monday in the first round of the US Open.
After withdrawing from the French Open after the first round, Osaka did not play at Wimbledon for mental health reasons.
In the first set, it was tied at 4-4 before Osaka's power began to show its true potential. The No. The No. 3 seed won seven of the remaining games to take a 5-0 lead in set 2. Osaka also had a 34-10 advantage in total winners, and saved all eight Bouzkova break points.
Last year, she won her second US Open title by defeating Victoria Azarenka in 3 sets.
Osaka stated, "It's the place where I've played many matches at Arthur Ashe Stadium." "But yes, I feel very comfortable here and I think playing in a night match it is a great honor. It was something I have never done before, so I'm glad I won.
Rising star Coco Gauff recovered from a nerve-wracking start to her first match and won a 5-7 6-3,6-4 win over Magda Linette. No. Gauff, 21st seed, will face Sloane Stephens 2017, 2017 US Open champion in the second round.
After taking a 5-3 lead, Linette served for the first set. She was hopeful that she could do it better. Linette won six more games to win the set and a 2-0 advantage in the second. The 17-year-old American then regrouped.
"I just remember, like last year, not necessarily feeling bored but it was just as quiet for the US Open," said Gauff, who lost in round one of last year’s tournament. "I certainly missed the buzz."
Simona Halep, Garbine Muguruza, and Garbine Muguruza are two-time Grand Slam champions. They have also won tough matches.
Stephens was the most difficult match, taking 2 hours, 10 mins to beat Madison Keys 6-3.
Arthur Ashe Stadium was not full for the start of the match. This may have been due to fans experiencing delays in entering the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center the day they were allowed back into the tournament.
After consecutive first round exits at the 2017 and 2018 US Opens Halep beat Camila Giorgi, 6-4, 7-6 (3). Last year's fan-less event didn't feature her.
Halep stated, "So for me it wasn't unusual to have people in the stands and the loud noise that is always at the US Open." It was something I liked. These are the things I embrace. I had fun at court and liked people who screamed in Romanian and English.
Muguruza, No. Muguruza, the No. 9 seed, won with a 7-6(4), 7-6(5) win over Donna Vekic.
No. 26 seed Danielle Collins defeated No. 6-4, a year after she revealed that she has been diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma.
The Spaniard was once ranked No. Last September, the 6th-ranked Spaniard announced that she would be undergoing six months of chemotherapy. She had originally planned to retire following last season. Instead, she returned from French Open treatment, where she lost the first round. After losing in round one at Wimbledon, she won a round at the Olympics.
Suarez Navarro stated that it was her last singles match, and she was leaving happy.
She said, "I lost, but I was blessed with this year." "Last year, on these dates, it's not clear if I can be here another time, but I'm here," she said.
Alycia Parks (20 years old) was the wild-card entry and tied the US Open women's serve speed record at 129 mph, which Venus Williams set 14 years ago.
Parks reached that milestone during a 6-3 7-5 loss to Olga Danilovic in the first round on Court 13 at Flushing Meadows. This was Parks' first Grand Slam main draw match in his 6-foot-1 career.
Williams set the record in a match at the 2007 US Open.
Osaka went into Ashe Monday night with her usual first-round Slamjitters but no pressure to win, Osaka stated afterward.
It was more about a desire to win, particularly for the full house of loud and appreciative fans that were there one year after she won the title.
"I tell people I am a perfectionist. For me, anything less than perfection is unacceptable, even if it's a great thing. Osaka said that she doesn't think this is a healthy way to think, and that it was something that she wanted to change. She will next face Olga Danilovic, who is ranked 145th.
"I just wanted to be happy in this tournament knowing that I did what I could and that, even though I wasn't perfect, I was still able to win a match within two sets. ... She said that it's more of a lifestyle thing. "Like, this is a life thing. I hope that I can maintain it throughout my entire life."
She might have been a bit slow against Bouzkova who is currently 1-11 in Slam matches. In the beginning, it was 4-4. Osaka won eight of the nine remaining games.
A serve of 120 mph was enough to help her.
"Last year when there wasn't a crowd, it felt quite lonely," she admitted with a smile during an on-court interview. "It's great to see the little ones in the audience, and of course, the grown-ups too."
Osaka's matches at majors improved to 55-14, with 22-3 at US Open. She tries to be the first woman to have consecutive trophies in New York after Serena Williams took her third in a row back in 2014.
Williams lost in the wild 2018 final in Ashe. She has also won major hard-court titles at the Australian Open in 2019 as well as this February.
Osaka said that he has played many matches on the court. "Definitely, it's a place I feel very comfortable."
Azarenka, the three-time US Open runner up, defeated Tereza Martincova, 6-4, 6-1. Azarenka (18th seed) trailed 4-1 in set one before taking control.
Angelique Kerber, 2016 champion and seeded 16th in the tournament, won to beat Dayana Yastremska, 3-6,6-4, 7-6 (3)
With a left calf injury she missed Wimbledon and the French Open, the two major tournaments Halep has won. Her return to Grand Slam tennis was at the point where she had the least success.
Kaia Kanepi lost to her in 2018. This was the first time that the No. The No. 1 seed was defeated in the first round at the US Open in professional tennis. After that loss, she admitted that New York's noise wasn't for her. Monday was back with all the sounds and the stands were again full.
Halep stated, "I lost a few rounds here, so I gained a little of the experience from these moments." There is no other way. It is the only way. It must be something I like and something that I can participate in.
Any player had to adjust to long lines and large crowds. Keys was forced to wait mid-match in her match against Stephens because fans had a late return to their seats following a changeover.
Halep was again in danger against Giorgi, an Italian player who won the Montreal hard-court title for her biggest win of her career. The No. The No. 12 seed was lost at 5-4 while serving, but he recovered to win the last four points of the tiebreaker.
Muguruza also won Wimbledon and the French Open, but she has not reached the quarterfinals at the US Open. Two years ago, she was eliminated in the first round.
She held her own in tiebreakers against Vekic and reached the quarterfinals of 2019
