Naomi Osaka has been battling with her form for a couple of years after giving birth to her daughter, Shai, and her mental health has been her toughest opponent, too.
But proving she’s a true fighter, the 27-year-old hasn’t let any of it define her.
At this year’s US Open 2025, all eyes have been on her from her fashion to her famous Labubu dolls, and, of course, her back-to-back wins.
Osaka is now through to the semi-finals after defeating 11th seed Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Osaka had trouble dealing with Muchova’s serve early in the first set, but she made her move at 5-4, getting three break points and winning the set on her second chance.
Muchova started showing signs of pain in her left leg during the sixth game and had to leave the court for treatment.
She came back with heavy bandaging on her thigh, but it didn’t seem to affect her play much, as she broke Osaka’s serve early in the second set.
Osaka quickly bounced back, and the match stayed close until she made a few mistakes and lost her serve at 4-4.
But just when Muchova had a chance to push the match to a third set, Osaka pulled herself together and broke her serve easily to tie things up.
In the tie-break, Osaka took charge, jumped to a 4-1 lead, and held on to win the match.
Speaking at the post-match interview, Osaka admitted that this was a difficult game against a strong opponent. “It was an incredibly difficult match.
“She’s one of the best players in the world – every time I play her it’s so difficult.
“Last year she beat me here when I had one of my best outfits, so I was really upset.”
Osaka has put in a lot of work since parting ways with Patrick Mouratoglou.
It is now working exceptionally well with her new coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, who has an excellent record of coaching and guiding Iga Swiatek, having won four majors in three years.
Osaka added: “It means so much. I am so surprised I’m not crying.
“There’s so much hard work that you guys haven’t seen, but I am really grateful to my team and happy to be healthy.”
Now the Two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka is preparing for her next opponent, eighth seed Amanda Anisimova.
Osaka and Anisimova have played against each other twice at the Australian Open and the French Open, with Anisimova winning both matches.
