MARIE BOUZKOVA

US Open Tennis Naomi Osaka, of Japan, returns a shot to Marie Bouzkova, of the Czech Republic, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) (Frank Franklin II)NEW YORK — (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. Open tennis tournament (all times local):___11:50 a.m. Play has started on the U.S. Open's outside courts after they were dried following morning rain. ___11:05 a.m.Naomi Osaka has advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open after her second-round opponent withdrew for medical reasons. ___More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.

US Open Tennis Naomi Osaka, of Japan, returns a shot to Marie Bouzkova, of the Czech Republic, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (Elise Amendola)NEW YORK — (AP) — Defending champion Naomi Osaka returned to the third round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday when her opponent withdrew because of illness. In the meantime, the only match in progress had two-time Grand Slam champion Garbiñe Muguruza facing Andrea Petkovic at Louis Armstrong Stadium. Osaka would have been going for her 17th straight victory in a Grand Slam match. The two-time U.S. Open champion hasn't lost a Grand Slam match since Coco Gauff beat her at the 2020 Australian Open.

Sloane Stephens has used her big forehand to take eight of the last 10 games and eliminate 17-year-old Coco Gauff in an all-American matchup at the U.S. Open.

US Open Tennis Naomi Osaka, of Japan, returns a shot to Marie Bouzkova, of the Czech Republic, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) (Frank Franklin II)NEW YORK — (AP) — The Latest on the U.S. Open tennis tournament (all times local):___11:05 a.m.Naomi Osaka has advanced to the third round of the U.S. Open after her second-round opponent withdrew for medical reasons. The defending champion was set to play Olga Danilovic of Serbia in the first match of the day in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The U.S. Tennis Association said the match between women's No. ___More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.

The tennis star was fined for skipping a post-match interview due to her anxiety and pulling out of the French Open and Wimbledon.

Victory marked star's return to Grand Slam tennis following three month absence due to mental health issues.

US Open Tennis Naomi Osaka, of Japan, speaks to the crowd after beating Marie Bouzkova, of the Czech Republic, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, in New York. “I feel like I have to sort of embrace more ... the honor that they’re telling me that, and I should believe more in myself. When the match ended, Osaka went over with a little gift: one of the Olympic pins athletes collect. I don’t really think that’s a healthy way of thinking, so something that I really wanted to change,” said the third-seeded Osaka, who next faces 145th-ranked Olga Danilovic. “I've played a lot of matches on this court,” Osaka told the Ashe fans.

APTOPIX US Open Tennis Naomi Osaka, of Japan, celebrates after beating Marie Bouzkova, of the Czech Republic, during the first round of the US Open tennis championships, Monday, Aug. 30, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II) (Frank Franklin II)NEW YORK — (AP) — Naomi Osaka is back in Grand Slam action after a mental health break. She hadn't played at one of her sport's four major tournaments since May 30 at the French Open. Last week, Osaka went to her old neighborhood to check out tennis courts there that she paid to have refurbished. ___More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis and https://twitter.com/AP_SportsCopyright 2021 The Associated Press.

Naomi Osaka has made a dominant return to Grand Slam tennis by grabbing eight of the last nine games in her first-round match at the U.S. Open.

Novak Djokovic will begin his bid to win the U.S. Open for a men’s-record 21st major tennis championship and to complete a calendar-year Grand Slam by facing a player who comes through qualifying.

An Australian Open courtesy car waits outside the Grand Hyatt hotel in central Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. All competition at six Australian Open tuneup events scheduled for Thursday was called off after a worker at one of the tournaments' Melbourne quarantine hotels tested positive for COVID-19. The Australian Open is scheduled to begin Monday. Williams won her last major title at the 2017 Australian Open, when she was pregnant with her daughter, Olympia. On the bottom half of the draw, defending Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin rallied from a set and a break down to fend off Jessica Pegula 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.

Sofia Kenin collected the WTA Player of the Year award on Tuesday after winning the Australian Open in January for her first Grand Slam title and finishing as the runner-up at the French Open in October. Kenin entered this year with an 11-11 career mark in Grand Slam tournaments and zero trips beyond the fourth round at any of the sport’s top four events. That triumph made Kenin the youngest Australian Open champion since 2008, when Maria Sharapova was 20. Kenin went on to get to the fourth round at the U.S. Open, then the final at the pandemic-postponed French Open before losing to Swiatek for the title. Mladenovic and Babos won two Grand Slam doubles titles this season, at the Australian Open and French Open.