NEW YORK – Naomi Osaka lifted her racquet after a wandering forehand at the end of the second set at the US Open, then threw it all the way down the baseline after a missed backhand return broke that tiebreak.
Facing an opponent who was only competing in her second major tournament, two-time Grand Slam champion Osaka eventually found a way to take control and beat 18-year-old Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-2 for claiming the last five games on Friday at Flushing Meadows to advance to the fourth round.
“While I was playing, honestly, I was cursing myself,” said Osaka, seeded number 4, later in an on-pitch interview, “so you don’t want to know what I was saying.”
However, it has improved to 7-0 since tennis resumed after a hiatus of more than five months due to the coronavirus pandemic.
With the shadows creeping over the Arthur Ashe Stadium pitch in the early afternoon, Kostyuk in 137th place certainly had her chance to pull off a significant surprise.
The key moment: Kostyuk had five break points that could have given her a 3-1 lead in the final set.
But Osaka dismissed everyone and held on to 2-all, starting his run to close the match.
“I’m a little scared of what it’s going to be like in the future,” said Osaka, who played with duct tape wrapping around her left hamstring, which has been a problem since last week. “He is not afraid.” ‘
Kostyuk had her problems: twice she took a medical timeout to have her right ankle tied by a trainer.
But she was also able to control the points results by stretches, scoring 19 of 23 points when she went to the net. The Ukrainian teenager also delivered multiple Osaka winners, 36-30, in the 2.5-hour match.
“To me, I feel like I have so many points that I haven’t capitalized on,” Osaka said, acknowledging she was “too passive” at times.
Petra Martic, seeded No. 8, advanced to round four for the second consecutive year with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Varvara Gracheva.
Gracheva made too many mistakes, with 33 unforced errors, three times more than Martic.
As Gracheva’s deficit grew more and more, he knew more than anyone that a comeback was still possible. In the previous round, she followed Kristina Mladenovic’s # 30 6-1, 5-1 and faced four match points before turning back to win.
This time there was no turnaround.
Martic will now try to make it to the second Grand Slam quarter-final of his career after reaching that stage at last year’s French Open.
She lost her other six fourth-round games in major tournaments, including the one against Serena Williams at last year’s US Open.
In the fourth round also the US Open 2016 champion Angelique Kerber, who beat the 20 year old American Ann Li 6-3, 6-4.
Kerber’s next opponent is another American, Jennifer Brady, 28th seeded, winner 6-3 and 6-3 against Caroline Garcia.
In the previous round, Garcia overturned seeded Karolina Pliskova.
Caty McNally, an 18-year-old from Ohio, knocked out No.21 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in three sets in a match delayed by rain to reach round three.
McNally’s 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (2) win gives the host 11 women in the third round at Flushing Meadows for the first time since 1992.
The match was suspended on Thursday due to bad weather. McNally, who plays doubles with 16-year-old American Coco Gauff, had never been this far in singles in a Grand Slam tournament.
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