By securing this victory, she became only the second female player from Japan to reach the milestone of 80 Grand Slam singles wins in the Open era, following in the footsteps of Ai Sugiyama.
This also represents the first time since 2018 that Osaka, who made it to the semi-finals in New York a year ago, has successfully advanced to the third round of all four major tournaments in a single season.
“Honestly, I kept telling myself what a privilege it is to play on this court,” remarked Osaka.
“I really want to continue performing in front of this crowd, so my focus is to keep battling with everything I have.”
“The atmosphere here is so vibrant, and having grown up in this area and competed on this court so many times, it is incredibly enjoyable for me.”
Meanwhile, Swiatek, who has claimed six Grand Slam titles including her lone US Open championship back in 2022, faced no such difficulties.
The 25-year-old Polish star, a former world number one, cruised past Nadia Podoroska of Argentina with a 6-3 6-2 victory, booking a clash with the Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova, who had earlier eliminated Great Britain’s Harriet Dart.
On the other hand, home favorite Madison Keys managed to escape a major scare, with the former finalist fending off five match points during an intense battle with Hungary’s Anna Bondar.
After pushing the contest to a deciding third set, the 22nd-seeded American found herself down by a double break.
She managed to stay in the match as Bondar committed consecutive double faults on her first two match points, followed by three additional double faults in her next service game. Keys took advantage to break back, level the score, and ultimately secure a 10-point tie-break, winning the match 5-7 6-4 7-6 (10-5).
