Japan's former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka was eliminated in the first round of the U.S. Open for the first time Tuesday, with the 2018 and 2020 women's singles champion falling 7-6(5), 6-3 to Danielle Collins of the United States.
Osaka, currently ranked 44th and unseeded for the year's final grand slam, had won all three previous meetings with the 19th-ranked Collins but fell short this time at Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The 24-year-old Osaka was returning from an Achilles injury and played her first match since the French Open in May on Aug. 2, but then hurt her lower back and retired in the National Bank Open's first round in Toronto on Aug. 10, voicing concern about her match fitness on Saturday.
"I thought I played a bit too defensively, I didn't really trust my forehand that much," Osaka said. "I also felt like I was on my back foot a lot, so overall I wouldn't say that I played very well but I tried the hardest with what I could do."
She broke in the second game and led 3-0, but Collins broke in the fifth to force a tiebreaker, where a superb return from Collins at 4-4, denying a crosscourt winner from Osaka, helped her claim the upper hand.
Osaka broke first again in the second set as she went 2-1 up, but Collins broke back immediately and got another to lead 5-3 as a dogged display secured the victory in 1 hour, 34 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Osaka had eight aces to one from Collins, who also made nine double faults to Osaka's none. But the American persevered against some powerful strokes and was very good on second serves, winning 16 points to Osaka's five.
"Honestly I just wanted to play without my back being in pain because it's kind of been bad for like the entire hardcourt season since Toronto, so I didn't serve until two days ago. So I was really happy with how my serve went," Osaka said.
"This year hasn't really been a great year, but I think it was just special to play on Ashe. I think a lot of players would die for that opportunity and for the tournament to let me still play on that, even though I'm unseeded, I'm very thankful."
In the men's singles, Taro Daniel also went out in the first round after losing 6-4, 6-7(1), 6-2, 6-2 to French veteran Richard Gasquet.
The 29-year-old Daniel sought to drag his 36-year-old opponent into long rallies, but it was the younger player who struggled to keep the pace against the former world No. 7, who broke seven times.
"I began to get tired when my opponent was also starting to," said the 95th-ranked Daniel, who managed well against Gasquet's variety of shots in the first two sets before mistakes began to pile up under pressure.
While Daniel had 16 aces to Gasquet's nine, the current world No. 91 won a higher percentage of points than the Japanese off both his first and second serves.
"His serves were quite good, and I couldn't return as effectively as I thought," said Daniel after missing out on the second round, the stage he last reached at the tournament in 2017.
"There were moments I was flustered more than I needed to be. I need to start changing something to achieve more."
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Tennis: Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka makes 1st round exit at U.S. Open
Tennis: Kei Nishikori to miss U.S. Open as recovery from surgery continues
Tennis: Osaka loses to China's Zhang in Western & Southern 1st round
