Naomi Osaka says 2024 is her “learning year” after coming back to the tour from a maternity break and the former world number one is trying to figure out how to better cope with the setbacks after being given a crash course in early Grand Slam exits.

Osaka has four major titles under her belt but the second round at Flushing Meadows, Wimbledon and Roland Garros was as good as it got this year for the Japanese 26-year-old, who exited the Australian Open in the first round.

On Thursday she lost 6-3 7-6(5) to Karolina Muchova, unable to get to grips with the Czech’s superb serve-and-volley tennis.

“It’s a little rough because I do take these losses really personally. It’s like a dramatic word, but I feel like my heart dies every time I lose,” she said.

“I’ve been trying to be more mature and learn and talk more about them.”

Osaka has been a champion for mental health in sport as she publicly struggled with the pressure to succeed, telling reporters in Flushing in 2021 that she no longer felt joy – only relief – when she won.

She has a new perspective now, she says, but is having to deal with frequent disappointments after packing her schedule since returning to the tour in January after 15 months away.

“It’s been a little difficult because obviously I can only gauge how I’m doing by results. Like, I feel faster. I feel better, but I lost in the second round. So it’s a little rough,” she told reporters.

“But, also, it’s been fun playing a lot of tournaments. It’s been a commitment for sure, but I’ve been able to go to different cities that I’ve never been to.”

She lost in the second round of qualifying in Cincinnati but gave glimpses of her brilliance in New York as she handed 10th seed Jelena Ostapenko a straight-sets defeat in the first round.

“This year for me has been a learning year. I put a lot of energy and effort into all the tournaments that I played,” she said. “Obviously the U.S. Open is very special to me.”

-Reuters

Novak Djokovic said he remains eager to continue making history as he begins his U.S. Open title defence only three weeks after winning a coveted gold medal at the Paris Games to cement his status as the greatest tennis player in history.

Djokovic aims to win a record 25th Grand Slam and become the first U.S. Open champion to successfully defend his title since Swiss great Roger Federer in 2008.

The 37-year-old said he was looking forward to playing his first match of the tournament on Monday against Radu Albot under the lights of the Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“The goal is always for me to try to go all the way to the finals and fight for the trophy. That kind of mindset is no different for me this year,” Djokovic told a news conference on Saturday.

“People ask me ‘now that you have won everything with the golden medal, what else is there to win?’ I still feel the drive. I still have the competitive spirit. I still want to make more history and enjoy myself on the tour.

“The US Open holds the biggest tennis court in the world. Night sessions here are very famous. I’m going to play my first match on Monday night, I can’t wait to be under the lights. The noise, the energy of the stadium is just different. I look forward to it.”

Other than his Paris Games triumph, Djokovic has claimed no other titles in 2024, losing to younger players such as Jannik Sinner in the Australian Open semi-finals and Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.

The last time Djokovic played all four majors in a season without winning one was 14 years ago. Yet the Serb looked like he was in fine form at the Olympics, beating French Open champion Alcaraz in the final.

Djokovic claims to be motivated to keep pushing himself forward through his rivalries with younger players.

“These kind of rivalries that I have with Jannik and Carlos are the kind of matchups that still bring that joy of competition to me and inspire me to really push myself to perfect the game,” he added.

-Reuters

Former champions Naomi Osaka, Bianca Andreescu and Stan Wawrinka have received singles main draw wildcards into the U.S. Open, the United States Tennis Association said on Wednesday.

Japan’s Osaka, who counts the 2018 and 2020 U.S. Opens among her four Grand Slam titles, returned to competition in January after the birth of her daughter and has advanced to the third round or better at four WTA 1000 events this season.

Canada’s Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, returned to action this year after missing nine months due to a back injury and reached the French Open third round in her first event back.

For Swiss Wawrinka, who won the most recent of his three Grand Slam titles at the 2016 U.S. Open, the wildcard allows him to make his 72nd main draw appearance in one of the game’s four blue-riband events, which puts him fifth on the all-time list.

Austrian Dominic Thiem, the 2020 U.S. Open champion who announced this year that he will retire following the 2024 season due to a wrist injury, was also given a wildcard.

The U.S. Open will held from Aug. 26-Sept. 8 in New York

-Reuters