NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka is not just a favorite to win the 2020 U.S. Open. She is the tournament’s most passionate and vocal advocate for …
NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka is not just a favorite to win the 2020 U. S. Open. She is the tournament’s most passionate and vocal advocate for justice and equality, a crusade that has drawn widespread admiration. Her run at the Open wasn’t all that far from ending in the baking heat of Flushing Meadows on Friday afternoon. The 2018 champion and the No.4 seed, Osaka survived her third-round match with Marta Kostyuk of the Ukraine, but not before she slammed her racket, kicked her racket and two hours into the battle, seemed perilously close to going down in what would’ve been perhaps the biggest upset of the tournament. The score was 6-3,6-7 (4),6-2, but it was a lot more stressful than the digits might indicate against the 18-year-old Kostyuk, a big, fearless hitter with a splendid all-court game. Kostyuk, ranked No.137 and a late addition to the field after a withdrawal, made it to the third round of Australia two years ago and then largely disappeared. She spent much of the match carrying on a conversation with her mother in the stands, and looked to be overflowing with self-loathing every time she made a mistake.
