American Danielle Collins earns first win over Naomi Osaka in US Open first round

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.

Earlier Tuesday, the top seed in the women's draw, Iga Swiatek, powered into the second round with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Jasmine Paolini.

Swiatek is trying to become the first player since Serena Williams in 2014 to win seven titles in a year. She is 5-4 since her 37-match winning streak ended earlier this year, but the two-time French Open champion got sharper as the match went on Tuesday while supported by a number of Polish fans wearing red inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Swiatek said she was excited to see a photo of herself pictured on an advertisement in Times Square.

«Just trying to enjoy that, because I remember times where it was pretty hard for anybody to see me or hear me,'' Swiatek said. „Yeah, it just shows how much progress I have done on court, but also off court that I am in such a spot.''

No. 8-seeded American Jessica Pegula also raced through her opening match like Swiatek,