NEW YORK — Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka lost in the first round of a second consecutive major tournament. Danielle Collins, an American seeded 19th, beat Osaka 7-6 (5), 6-3 in a big-hitting matchup at the US Open that ended after midnight as Tuesday turned to Wednesday.
Collins reached her first Grand Slam final at the Australian Open in January and showed that same sort of hard-court form in her victory over former No.
1 Osaka, who, entering Tuesday, held a 3-0 career edge against Collins, winning every set they had played. Osaka won the US Open in 2018 and 2020, and the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021.
This season, she lost in the third round in Australia, the first round at the French Open, then sat out Wimbledon. Osaka is now ranked 44th, which means she could have been drawn to face anyone in the first round.