A couple of years ago Naomi Osaka , the four-time Grand Slam champion who last won the U.S. Open in 2020, came to Arthur Ashe Stadium as a spectator, just two months after giving birth to her first child, daughter Shai. Osaka was in New York City with Olympic champion Michael Phelps to participate in a forum , along with then U.S. surgeon general Vivek Murthy, on mental health in sports. The next evening, she watched American Coco Gauff beat Karolína Muchová in the semifinals, during Gauff’s run to the 2023 U.S. Open title.

In that moment watching Gauff, Osaka, now 27, had doubts as to whether she’d be able to play at such a high level again. But she could still picture returning to Arthur Ashe Stadium, late in a U.S. Open, to compete for another major championship. “Maybe I’m cra

See Full Page