'I cannot believe I won this match': Osaka outlasts Mertens in late-night US Open thriller

NEW YORK -- Naomi Osaka sat beneath a towel during a third-set changeover Friday night, trying to compose herself as her frustration began to spill over.

She was in pain. Her Achilles, an issue that has lingered since the grass-court season, needed treatment from the trainer. But the greater problem, at least in Osaka’s mind, was her tennis.

“I have no problem losing a match if I feel like I'm playing good, but I just felt like I was playing terribly,” Osaka said afterward. “This is my favorite tournament, and I don't know, just a bunch of negative emotions that I felt like I didn't want to go out that way.”

With some help from her opponent, and a whole lot of resolve, Osaka kept her US Open alive.

Osaka outlasted Elise Mertens 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in 2 hours and 38 minutes, overcoming three missed match points to reach the fourth round of the US Open. The four-time Grand Slam champion and two-time US Open winner will next meet No. 2 Elena Rybakina, a 7-6 (6), 6-3 winner against Yuliia Starodubtseva later Friday night.

Osaka's win came with little celebration. On the fourth match point, Mertens sent a forehand wide, and she briefly raised her arms, more relief than anything else.

She had good reason to feel that way.

Mertens has spent 52 weeks as doubles World No. 1 and won the 2019 US Open doubles title alongside Aryna Sabalenka, but she has also been a fixture near the top of the singles game. The No. 20-ranked Belgian has finished each of the past nine seasons inside the Top 35, reached the US Open quarterfinals in 2019 and 2020, and made the fourth round two years ago.

It had looked far more manageable early on. Osaka, seeded 13th this year, walked onto Louis Armstrong Stadium in a blazer to a packed, partisan crowd, with a cluster of Japanese reporters seated high in the media section. She took the first set 6-3 and moved ahead by a break early in the second.

At 2-1, Mertens pulled Osaka into a four-deuce service game before closing it with a forehand winner. She broke again later in the set and turned a match that had been moving smoothly for Osaka into something far more unsettled.

Ultimately, the match became a test of whether Osaka could accept that she did not have her best tennis and still find a way to win.

She did, but the final stats didn’t paint a clean finish.

Osaka finished with 39 winners and 41 unforced errors. It was not the performance she wanted, and her forehand sat at the center of her frustration.

“I think I was so hard on myself because I felt like I wasn't playing well,” Osaka said. “That's ultimately why I had so many doubts in my head, just because I felt, like, I couldn't feel my forehand, and that's one of my best shots. My serve was OK. I felt like my percentage was pretty low.”

Osaka also explained how quickly a poor run can affect her confidence.

“I'm the type of player that, like, I keep like a rotation of numbers in my head, and once they get really low, it makes me very down on myself,” Osaka said.

But as the match grew tighter, Osaka found another way to compete. Rather than trying to force the forehand she could not feel, Osaka chose to extend points with a softer touch.

“I started pushing a lot, because I wanted to see if she had the guts to hit winners and go for it,” Osaka said. “Thankfully, for me, she made a couple of mistakes.”

Against Rybakina, Osaka said she hopes for something different.

“I think I just want to have a fun match,” Osaka said. “I think this match was a lot emotionally, and I just want to have a fun time.”

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