NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka is at the U.S. Open to compete for the first time in two years, and she said Saturday that returning to the site of two of her four Grand Slam titles gives her a boost — but not because she focuses on her past success there.
No, Osaka explained, it’s more about hearkening further back, to the days when she was a child in New York and would come as a fan to watch “all the famous players that you could name,” such as Rafael Nadal, Serena and Venus Williams, and Maria Sharapova.