US OPEN

September 1, 2026

Naomi Osaka

Press Conference

N. OSAKA/A. Zakharova

7-6, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. It's late. Questions.

Q. You had that strong start at 5-2, but you know, things kind of got complicated there towards the end of the first set. Was there anything about her game that, you know, she did differently, or do you feel like it was more so things that were happening with you and your game?

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, I wouldn't be, like, so arrogant to say it was, like, just me. I think she was playing really well, and I've obviously never played her, so it was kind of hard to, like, understand her patterns a little bit.

But I think on my end I just was, like, so nervous. I think in certain situations I wasn't serving well. Then obviously I felt like she was a lot more aggressive than me and, like, risk-taking. So I feel like that was it.

Then I just talked to Tomasz a little bit, and I feel like how the match went wasn't ideal, but I'm just happy to get through it and have an opportunity to play another match.

Q. I just wanted to ask you about your outfit. Can you talk about the inspiration behind it and what you like about it?

NAOMI OSAKA: I've never seen you with this haircut before.

Q. What do you think of this? Let's start with that.

NAOMI OSAKA: That's a nice haircut.

Q. Thank you.

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, like, obviously the inspiration is Allen Iverson. I think, you know, for me he's a trailblazer. He's someone that was able to merge culture and sport, and he's very famous for that. Also, I just really appreciate his style.

So, yeah, I mean, that's kind of, like, what I tried to embody. Obviously I had a lot of fun with that design process and just coming up with the creative for it. So overall it was cool.

I think it fit New York really well, and I'm just excited to continue.

Q. You said on court that you didn't want to have any regrets. I'm curious, just beyond I guess losing, what would you consider a regret for you?

NAOMI OSAKA: The regrets would probably be like -- I wasn't paying attention to the score that much, but I did know I was ahead. So just regrets that I wasn't able to close out the set or I wasn't able to take advantage of the opportunities that I had.

I know that the further I get in the tournament, the harder the players will be, so I really need to be able to, I guess, lock in in opportunities like that.

Q. I'm not sure if I've ever seen a do-rag on court at a tennis tournament.

NAOMI OSAKA: Oh, really?

Q. I'm curious what inspired that?

NAOMI OSAKA: Nothing inspired it. Vanessa just told my I had to hide my braids. I was, like, okay, let me hide my braids. That was pretty much it, yeah.

Q. I have another comparison concerning your style. Let's step back 100 years. It was the same first with Suzanne Lenglen, who was breaking all the barriers not only style-wise or in terms of fashion, but also in terms of the role of the women in sports for good. How do you see that connection between you and her, and how much do you take from that?

NAOMI OSAKA: I mean, I think obviously -- well, if I'm being honest, I don't know that much about her. You know what I mean? It was a really long time ago, but I know all her accolades, and I know how much she meant to the sport. Just even to have that semi-comparison is a really big honor.

I feel like, truthfully, when I do things, I don't really, like, know if it's impacting anything. I'm really just doing it for the fun and for the love of the sport.

For style, I just feel like it's fun, you know? And for the good of the sport, I feel like it's important to speak up on issues that are important. Yeah, that's kind of all I can say about that.

Q. You mentioned being nervous a few times, and we know why, because you talked about this being the most important tournament for you. Do you feel like this is maybe the most nervous you've been in an opening-round match here at this tournament?

NAOMI OSAKA: Probably. I don't know why, though. You know, I think you feel with age that maybe would get better, but I guess not.

Yeah, I felt like I wasn't hitting the shots that I wanted to hit. Like my pace was very low. Granted, she was hitting really flat and hard, and I felt like in some moments I could only react.

I know that there's a level of my tennis that's much higher than today, and it was just a little disappointing that I wasn't able to show that to everybody.

Q. I'm curious, how much of a fashion inspiration is your mom?

NAOMI OSAKA: Ha, sorry, that was... Did you see her outfit today? Is that why you asked?

Q. Yeah, in general she's been pulling out great outfits.

NAOMI OSAKA: I feel like every little girl plays in their mom's clothes, so I remember when I was younger, I used to go in her high heels. Granted, I have really big feet, so I could only do that until I was, like, 7 or something.

The fashion inspiration... actually, I really enjoyed, like, fashion stuff with my sister more. I would say my sister was more my inspiration, because she made me feel like there was no limit on what you could wear or what you could achieve or create.

(Naomi answers questions in English to questions in Japanese.)

NAOMI OSAKA: Actually, it was a pretty tough conversation with Tomasz today. I think we both see the potential of what I could do, and obviously I want to do really well here. I think the year has gone okay, but I want to, like, make a statement. This is like my favorite tournament to make a statement, so I am putting a lot of pressure on myself. Yeah, I mean, I just feel like coming off of the back of Toronto, I had a really tough loss. It was very close against Rybakina, and I just wanted to continue to build on that. I didn't think that this match today was, like, a good -- not a good start, but, like, coming off the back of that match, I really wanted to continue to build. I think I have to give myself a little bit of grace, because it is the first round, and there are plenty more opportunities to go.

I was really grateful for the crowd. This is probably the only stadium or the only crowd that's -- which I felt really bad for. I've never played in a crowd that would clap when the person would hit, like, the serve in the net. So, like, I felt bad, but I was a little happy about it, because I've never experienced it on my end before. Yeah, the crowd was super kind and super into it. They made it feel so lively. I didn't even know it was midnight. Yeah, I really just appreciated it a lot.

Definitely. I feel like the type of player that I am, the more rounds I play, the better I become. I get, like, very hyper-fixated on the things that I should fix. Also, you're kind of more aware the deeper you go in the tournament, the better the tournaments are. There's less room for error. I think that's the most, I guess, fun part of playing tennis is fine-tuning yourself while the tournament is going on. So I am, I guess, ready to play the next round and hopefully the round after that.