Naomi Osaka

Danielle Collins has not played since July but the 19th-seeded American was back to her best in her first-round win over Naomi Osaka at the US Open.

Her run to the Australian Open final boosted her into the Top 10 and she could count herself as the standard-bearer for American tennis until Pegula overtook her in July. Her stunning stab lob at 4-4 in the first-set tiebreaker and another clutch desperation volley to save break point in the fourth game of the second set. Collins finished the match with 23 winners to 24 unforced errors. Despite her lack of momentum, Osaka played a strong match. Unseeded and ranked No.44, Osaka was the underdog on paper. She had not played since Lausanne in July and had lost her last three matches dating back to Roland Garros. But a double-fault and backhand error from Collins allowed Osaka to level at 4-4. And if there was any rust, Collins showed no signs of it. Jessica Pegula comes into this tournament as the top-ranked American, with Coco Gauff and Madison Keys as plausible title favorites. "When you lose to someone three times you get a lot of information on what you can do better," Collins said. Seeded No.19, Collins snapped her three-match losing streak with a powerful baseline display to earn her first win in four tries against Osaka. From there, the quality of shot-making rose with every game, with both women going toe-to-toe for power.

Danielle Collins, an American seeded 19th, defeated four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a big-hitting first-round matchup at the US ...

[Anett Kontaveit](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=2059) of Estonia. [Amanda Anisimova](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=3221), the No. 13 [Belinda Bencic](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=2183) also advanced over [Andrea Petkovic](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=735), who is headed into retirement. 24 seed, lost to unseeded [Yulia Putintseva](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=1802) 3-6, 3-6. 16 seed, fell to [Qinwen Zheng](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=6048) 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. The others were 2004 champion [Svetlana Kuznetsova](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=379) and 2016 champion [Angelique Kerber](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=745). 9 [Garbine Muguruza](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=2155) and No. [Jelena Ostapenko](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=2195), the No. [Aryna Sabalenka](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=3038), No. [Paula Badosa](http://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=2731) got off to a rough start, but won a second-set tiebreaker en route to a three-set victory over [Lesia Tsurenko](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=1726). 22 seed [Karolina Pliskova](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=740), the runner-up here in 2016, outlasted [Magda Linette](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=1649) in a third-set tiebreaker 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (10-8), while No. Outhit in Arthur Ashe Stadium by another big hitter, [Danielle Collins](https://www.espn.com/sports/tennis/players/profile?playerId=3262), two-time US Open champion Osaka was left to contemplate a second consecutive first-round loss at a Grand Slam tournament.

Defending women's singles champion Emma Raducanu was one of the day's major casualties as the British player lost 6-3 6-3 to unseeded Frenchwoman Alize Cornet.

[Rafael Nadal dropped the first set against Australian wildcard Rinky Hijikata](https://www.sportingnews.com/au/tennis/news/rinky-hijikata-us-open-rafael-nadal-australian-wildcard/t6hp5i6mnh3pbhfarnbu2boa) before rallying to win the match in four sets. Climb my way back up. But also, in a way happy because it’s a clean slate.

Two-time U.S. Open champion is sent packing in two sets for her second first-round exit at a major this year.

Collins converted two of three break points in the second set to keep Osaka from mounting a comeback. “I’m just really still kind of speechless in a way because I took the summer off,” Collins said. “I just kind of went for it, and hoped for the best.” Like Osaka, Collins took off most of the summer to deal with a string of injuries, playing just three matches since the French Open. I would say the sport is definitely very physical, but it’s kind of my job to stay on top of it.” The 24-year-old lost to another American, Amanda Anisimova, at the French Open before missing out on Wimbledon with a left Achilles’ injury.

The last two U.S. Open women's singles champions were sent packing in the first round of the season's last major tournament on Tuesday in New York.

“Her level was really incredible today so credit to her.” I had goose bumps when I came onto the court and I’m happy with my performance. “It’s always an honor to play a legend,” Van Uytvanck said afterward. Osaka reached the final in Miami, her only title-round appearance of the year. … I just kind of tried to go for it and hoped for the best.” “I just had to go out and kind of learn from that and make adjustments. “When you lose to someone three times, you get a lot of information on what you can do better,” Collins said on court following the win. It’s kind of cool. I just have another chance to claw my way back up there. Then in late-night action, 19th-seeded Danielle Collins of the United States topped Japan’s Naomi Osaka, the 2018 and 2020 U.S. The last two U.S. Article content

Emma Raducanu's US Open title defence ended in the first round on Tuesday after losing 6-3, 6-3 to Frenchwoman Alize Cornet. Raducanu delivered one of the ...

But Collins battled back into the match and took the first set after winning a hard-fought tie-break. I think it would be nice in a way to kind of just start over, start fresh. I think it makes a massive difference no matter what the level is." I think any player would be happy to win a tournament. "But also, in a way happy because it's a clean slate. With those gone, the world No 11 will drop out of the top 70 and back having to qualify for some events or depend on wildcards.

Emma Raducanu's defense of her surprising 2021 U.S. Open championship ended Tuesday night. Naomi Osaka also lost in the first round.

In 2022, she lost in the second round at each of the first three majors. Nadal has won the U.S. Nadal did not show any serious lingering effects from the torn abdominal muscle that forced the 22-time Grand Slam champion to pull out of Wimbledon before he was supposed to play in the semifinals. Osaka won the U.S. A year ago, at age 18, Raducanu arrived at Flushing Meadows ranked 150th to participate in only the second major tournament of her nascent career. Raducanu is only the third woman to lose her opening match in New York a year after winning the title.