Naomi Osaka has enjoyed a brilliant US Open campaign, but it sadly came to an end last night.
She came up against an inspired opponent in Amanda Anisimova, who battled back from a set down to secure her spot in a second straight Grand Slam final. Hers is an incredible story, and one that could have a crowning moment should she beat Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday.
However, for the four-time Grand Slam champion, it is back to the drawing board.
She came so close to glory, but fell just short. Now, she will be keen to find out why.
There were likely a handful of factors that contributed to her steady collapse against Anisimova, and one pundit has outlined a questionable mid-match moment which could have upset her rhythm.
Naomi Osaka’s ‘bizarre’ serving pattern vs Amanda Anisimova
Speaking on The Tennis Podcast, Catherine Whitaker started by praising Anisimova’s reaction to recent events: “There was so much that she was dealing with this. just even a few weeks ago, I felt like would have derailed Anisimova, would have risked derailing Anisimova, and she’s kind of confirmed this in the press conference by talking about how different a player she feels, even since Wimbledon.
“She says, I feel like the last few weeks, it’s been a different feeling. I feel like when I was at Wimbledon, every single match was kind of a surprise to me. I was shocked with every match that I won, but here, I feel like I believe in myself.
“And I feel like that manifests in, well, just, I mean, the very fact that she won this match, we didn’t believe, did we?”
She added to her adulation, continuing: “And the crowd was cheering against her. She did not have the crowd tonight; an American in a semi-final of the US Open. And okay, it’s Naomi Osaka. She’s an exception.
“It’s not personal, exception, but, you know, we’ve seen how a crowd can get to the player, you know, in Naomi Osaka in Montreal. Like, that could very easily get to somebody.
“The speed with which Naomi Osaka was playing, Anisimova was being rushed, getting into the return position. There were actually quite a few times when she held up Osaka inadvertently, just because Osaka was wanting to play so quickly, it was kind of remarkable.
“Matt kept on remarking on it in the first set. We couldn’t quite tell whether we were just sort of more dialled into it tonight, or whether she was deliberately maybe deploying that as a tactic. And then there was a very bizarre moment where she received a time violation.”
Matt Roberts then added: “Mmm, like, the shot clock was barely starting for most of her points, you know, she was so quick, and to me, it did feel like some kind of tactic to just keep the pressure on, not giving Anisimova breaks, you know, bits of recovery.
“But then out of the blue, she suddenly ran the clock down, and got a time violation. It really did surprise me.”
Despite all this, Osaka has outlined her latest goal after this US Open campaign.
The US Open is now Naomi Osaka’s best-performing Grand Slam
Before this tournament, it was tough to decide which of Naomi Osaka’s two favoured Grand Slams were her best performing.
After all, she had shared her four major titles between the Australian Open and the US Open, all of which were won in a four-year period.
Her first came in New York, as she beat Serena Williams in the final, and she would win it again just two years later.
However, in reaching the semi-finals in 2025, the US Open is now comfortably her best-performing Grand Slam, even if this marked the first time she has ever made it to the quarter-finals and failed to win the whole tournament.
In Melbourne, her win rate sits at 79%, whereas in New York it is now 80%.
