US Open: Is Naomi Osaka Setting up For a Surge in New York?

that is hey prime time tomorrow the night session yep 7 PM Eastern Standard Time New York Under The Lights karolina mukava versus two-time US Open champ Naomi Osaka how do you feel that going Clinton I think this one will be more challenging for her than it was against AAP pinko uh just because mova plays with a bit more uh actually sorry let me correct that I don't sound I don't want to sound like Chris edbert mukava sounds more I mean she has more variety in her game uh which can certainly trouble Naomi uh uh in particularly like slicing and coming into the net those have been traits or game styles that have troubled Naomi and the past but the US Open Court is playing pretty fast which is like two Naomi liking she's won this tournament twice so I I see Naomi possibly I can see her taking it but I don't think it would be as um as easy as it was in the first set maybe three sets or two tight sets where it's like 75 64 or the ver of that they have an interesting head-to-head but I would venture to say it's kind of irrelevant because they're both different players they play for the first time on tour back in 2020 Ironically in New York but the tournament was in uh Cincinnati cincin Southern yeah western and southern it was in the bubble and Osaka won that after dropping the first set 67 64 62 and then they played again in Madrid which is where mukava would you would say is definitely the favorite but that's still when three sets mova beated M Muka beated mova beat Osaka 64 3661 they haven't played a completed Mech since then they were set to play in Miami of 2022 but mukava gave Osaka a walkover so they didn't take the court I'm interested how that matchup Dynamic plays I may go back and try to find some clips on YouTube of those two matches because I can to toally see all day every day how Muk game could get under Osaka's skin but there's something to be said that Muka isn't at like full Pelt you know like she hasn't really she hasn't really been playing with the same kind of swagger that saw her get to the French Open last year or the French Open final last year and the US Open semi so she's defending quite a quite a bit of points here um but if Osaka is attacking the ball and having a good service day and like limiting unforced erors like she was against ala Peno she's also going to make herself very tough to beat she made a very interesting comment uh in her press conference after her first round win I think she was talking to the Japanese press and she was trying to describe herself as not an aggressive player but then she stopped and she was like well no I am an aggressive player I just try not to stand on the Baseline and just smack everything for a winner which was basically I'm paraphrasing a little bit but that was kind of her words if she keeps that mind set and doesn't try to just outright blast Muka off the court and is able to balance you know unforced errors that you know they're going to come but if she can limit them I like her chances especially if she knows that uh she has to go out on Court and wear a different dress because this is gonna be a nighttime match and she did say that was kind of a uh in yeah a motivating a motivating fact that she was like I can't lose because I got to I want to show everybody the other color of my dress so apparently there's a there's a second a second you know showstopping dress and hopefully better tennis to come from Miss Naomi Osaka because that first round match was she was sharp she really was sharp yeah it's just the black thing we saw in the New York Times H I didn't really pay too much attention to that okay well I have I have my eye on it um but yeah I I'm just glad to see Naomi back I'm glad to see that she's uh uh excited about the game again and I think you touched on a really good part of her game that I feel like had improved during her grand slam tenure which was the fact that she was building points really well because I think around the time that she won Indian Wells she was more likely to go For Broke pretty early and pull the trigger in shots but uh when she started working with Sasha not only did her movement get better but she was also able to build points uh more efficiently and so she waited for her opportunities and she also created opportunities for her to be able to hit finishing shots more easily and we saw that all up and through the 2021 Uso uh 2021 Australian Open which is her last slam and we haven't really been seeing that executed the best so far in her comeback but at least she's getting back to that mindset if you were in the mind frame of like what does Muka have to do to win this match what would you think she she'd have to do best or do well uh I would still move Osaka side to side I would um I would try to chip chip in charge honestly because I Naomi hits hard but she still has to be able to move well in order to hit passing shots and I think miova Muka sorry it's a very it's hard because I see Chris evert's face on her face as well and so it just reminds me of how Chris Evert says her name I supposed ever say her name she says uh mova like she doesn't proun to see at all I think that's I think there's a a lane in the world where that's how you say it I'm not sure I've I've heard M mukava mova I think it's somewhere in the middle yeah I I try to align myself with however Pam stver says it because she at least tries Chris ever does not um but yeah I think uh karolina needs to just she needs to try to come into the the net as much as she can and make try to force the issue with Naomi she needs to make her uncomfortable yeah I haven't seen too many women uh really attack the net and make Osaka have to come up with passing shots carolene Garcia tried to do that um in two of their matches earlier in the season and Osaka didn't come out victorious in one of those so yeah surprisingly shayu would bring Naomi into the net and then hit a passing shot of some sort but I don't know if everybody has that and I think you have to be of a certain confidence level on the court which I know mova made the 250 Final in poo um right before the Olympics but that's been the best best part of her season so far besides then it's been a little touch and go coming back from injury which I guess is is to be expected but I'm not sure if we're gonna get a absolute like thriller or Corker of a match but I am interested to see if they can both play somewhere close to their best at the same time because I do think that would be fun especially under the lights in New York for sure agreed