IWASHINGTON, July 30, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
By all appearances, Naomi Osaka has been happy to try new things this week at the ATP/WTA 500-series Mubadala DC Open combined event in the nation’s capital city of Washington, D.C., both on and off the tennis court.
“I’m just more, like, happy to try new things, and if I fail, then that’s fine,” the World. No. 13 Osaka said Wednesday night during her post-match news conference, after she won her abbreviated opening-round match over American Ashlyn Krueger by retirement due to a right ankle injury.
Osaka was ahead 6-3, 3-1 after just 54 minutes, when the 67th-ranked wild card Krueger pulled the plug on the second-round match that opened the evening session on Stadium Court. The No. 3-seeded Osaka won 75 percent (30 of 40) of all of her service points, faced no break points on her serve and outpointed Krueger 43-29.
Into the Quarterfinals 👉
With Krueger’s retirement, Naomi Osaka advances to the final 8 in DC.#MubadalaDCOpen pic.twitter.com/MkHMXwrBBa
— Mubadala DC Open (@mubadaladcopen) July 29, 2026
“I’m just going to pick myself up and keep going. That’s kind of how I have approached the year since clay court, and it seems to be going really well,” Osaka said.
“Other than that,” she added, “to try to fake confidence I tell myself, like, I always do really well during the beginning and the end of the year. Yeah, that’s pretty much it.”
Indeed, of Osaka’s four career major titles, two of them have come at the Australian Open (2019, 2021) and two of them at the US Open (2018, 2020), near the beginning and near the end of each year’s calendar cycle.
On any given day, Osaka has shown she can give anyone a good run for their money, and with her win over Krueger, she’s through to Friday’s quarterfinal round against Elisabetta Cocciaretto. The 71st-ranked Italian already has two quality wins under her belt in Washington, D.C., against No. 30 Clara Tauson of Denmark and No. 8 seed Emma Navarro of the United States, ranked 26th.
“I never sign up for a tournament, you know, thinking that I won’t win,” admitted Osaka, who could face either No. 2 seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine or No. 28 Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in the semifinals.
“I don’t know much about Alex, but I think she’s incredible,” Osaka said of the talented 21-year-old Filipina, earlier this week during one of her news conferences. “I think she’s a star, and it’s just really cool to have someone like her that, I guess, people can look up to.
“For me, I think it’s amazing that she’s such an inspiration. I really love hearing her talk because it’s really cool the things that she says.”
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When Osaka arrived on Stadium Court for her opening-round match against Krueger Wednesday evening, she had updated her floral appliquéd Nike Wimbledon kit, trading white for a bright fuchsia color – think cherry blossoms or hibiscus – with matching Zoom GP Challenge 1.5 sneakers. Her appearance exuded confidence.
“I would say, ironically, wearing the outfits that I wear have kind of forced me to speak a lot more, especially about topics that I’m not necessarily an expert on,” Osaka said.
“Being a tennis player, I could probably sit in front of this mic and talk about tennis for a really long time because it’s a world that I’m used to. Kind of branching out, doing the fashion stuff has made me talk to people that I’ve never met before and things like that.
“So, yeah, just trying to, I would say, go into worlds that I’ve never imagined myself sort of being in before.”
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While the 28-year-old Japanese icon has been garnering headlines all season long – not to mention turning heads – thanks to her high-profile tournament appearances, in which she’s revealed a variety of avant-garde, culturally-inspired fashion during her walk outs in Melbourne, Paris and Wimbledon, she’s also gone about putting together an impressive 21-9 win-loss record on the WTA Tour. She’s spent time during practice with coach Tomasz Wiktorowski perfecting her service game and also in being more aggressive in moving toward the net.
Recently, Osaka was a finalist at Bad Homburg on grass, losing the title match to Wimbledon finalist Karolina Muchova of Czechia, and reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon before Muchova beat her again. This is the first time in three appearances in Washington, D.C., that Osaka has advanced past the second round.
Earlier this week, with a few days to go before her opening-round match against Krueger, Osaka decided to do something spontaneous and fun to mix things up – in a good way – at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center, where this week’s ATP/WTA combo event is taking place. On Monday afternoon, a joyful Osaka with her three-year-old daughter Shai in tow, placed herself in the center of attention for an afternoon pop-up/community social gathering among fans that came together organically via social media and with the help of tournament owner Mark Ein.
Tennis star Naomi Osaka is in the nation’s capital for the Mubadala D.C. Open. 7News’ Jade Lawson caught up with the athlete as she wrapped up a last-minute cookout on Monday. #wjla #naomiosaka #dcopen #washingtondc pic.twitter.com/H0XhC3EC4S
— 7News DC (@7NewsDC) July 27, 2026
“It came from her personally,” Ein told reporters during a Tuesday news conference. “I think one of the things that’s always so special about this tournament, and every year it seems to be more so, is how much the players, they just comment to me all the time, they love being here. They love being watched, but they love being onsite and love our fans.
“So, Naomi was walking around the day before kind of experiencing that, and she told her team, ‘I just want to do a meet-up, a cookout.’ They texted us late the night before and said, ‘Could you arrange something?’ We found a space. We supported her with some food and drinks and getting the message out, although she got it out.
“Obviously it was a great crowd. … It was like a hang-out. It was awesome because she did spend an hour there, and she really spent time with people. It was totally generated from her because of the experience she had here the last couple of days. Definitely a highlight of the week for everyone.”
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Afterward, Osaka spoke fondly of the experience that was held at the tournament’s new gathering spot, The Front Porch. “I think from my end I just have had so much good interactions with the fans here. Everyone is just really lovely,” she said. “Like, even the staff and the people that work around the site. I kind of just wanted to throw that together to get to know everyone a lot more.
“It’s interesting because we go to so many different cities, but we don’t necessarily speak to a lot of different people. I’ve always felt like D.C. is a little bit of, like, a melting pot, and that’s just me looking at my Uber Eats because there’s a lot of ethnic foods here.
“Yeah, I just wanted to interact with the community.”
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Looking back, Osaka admitted she definitely likes to mix it up. “I definitely do like the spontaneous nature,” she said. “I feel like my team probably doesn’t as much, but they kind of are used to me and my shenanigans. It is something that I would want to do in other cities, especially, like, cities that I feel like I need to explore a lot more.
“I guess I’ll see what happens, but I kind of want to do another one in New York just because I really love that city and the Caribbeans. The Caribbeans are there, and I just love feeling like I’m in the islands, so …”
Around the Mubadala DC Open
With four second-round men’s and women’s singles matches on Thursday’s order of play, featuring the first appearances by 2019 DC Open champion and this year’s top seed Jessica Pegula and No. 2 seed Elina Svitolina, plus a generational battle of Aussie friends, pitting defending men’s champion Alex de Minaur and 17-year-old Cruz Hewitt, the quarterfinals are starting to come into focus.
In doubles, both men’s and women’s No. 1 seeds – Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori of Italy, and Sara Errani of Italy and Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States – are in action.
Thursday’s Mubadala DC Open order of play
By the numbers
All seven of Naomi Osaka‘s career titles have come on hard courts, including four Grand Slam crown. She won the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021, and the US Open in 2018 and 2020.
“Quotable …”
“I feel so happy to see him. Obviously as a Japanese player, you grow up admiring him. He’s done so many amazing things. He’s kind of, like, I don’t want to say, carried us on his back for so long, but he has represented Japan at the highest level for an amazingly long period of time.
“I remember just watching him and hoping to be where he is and being able to stand next to him and do all of the cool things that he’s doing. I was able to get to that point.
“Like I remember the first time I met him. I was shocked that he knew who I was. So, he’s always felt like an older brother. Yeah, it’s something that I’ve missed for a while because I’ve been gone for periods, he was gone for periods. So, to be at this tournament together is really special.”
– Naomi Osaka of Japan, during her pre-tournament news conference last weekend, describing fellow Japanese player Kei Nishikori.
