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NEW YORK — Many fans will tune into the US Open semifinals Thursday night and assume it's normal for Naomi Osaka to be there.
They'll remember she won this tournament twice. They may recall she also has two Australian Opens, giving her more Grand Slam titles than all but 13 women in the Open Era. They'll instinctively know that she's one of the most famous tennis players in the world, a cultural icon in both America where she was raised and in Japan where she claims nationality.
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And that all makes sense.
But it betrays the reality of what Osaka has gone through on the tennis court over the past four years.
Here's a more accurate description of what Osaka has accomplished after a 6-4, 7-6 win Wednesday over No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova : She's rescued a career that, until the past few weeks, looked like it was headed nowhere.
"I appreciate the journey a lot more now," Osaka said. "I'm grateful to be playing well in this city."
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Regardless of what happens in the semifinals against Amanda Anisimova or perhaps one round beyond that, it appears Osaka may legitimately be back. She came to the US Open looking fast and fit, she's still the purest ballstriker in women's tennis and she's finally gaining the confidence back to close out tense matches like she did for a three-year stretch when beating her on a hard court felt next to impossible.
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It's great news for women's tennis. But for the women who have to deal with her as a real threat again at the Grand Slams?
Uh, oh.
"I've learned I love tennis way more than I thought I did," Osaka said. "And I learned that I actually really love challenges. It's like a video game . You pick it up and even if you lose a level, you kind of restart and keep going until you actually win. It's a little tough sometimes, but I wouldn't trade it for the world."
With everything she accomplished and all the money she's made, it wouldn't have been a surprise if she walked away when mental health troubles began to impact her severely in 2021 and 2022 and then again after giving birth to a girl in 2023.
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But she clearly wanted to be a factor again, playing more tournaments in 2024 and 2025 than she did even at her peak.
The only question was how long she would endure the indignity of being stuck outside the top 50, failing to win the matches she used to win, getting little reward for all the work she was putting into her comeback.
And frankly, those rewards have appeared almost out of nowhere.
After getting crushed 6-4, 6-2 by Emma Raducanu at the DC Open in late July, Osaka — once the No. 1 player in the world — was ranked No. 49. Her WTA-level record in 2025 stood at 16-11. She hadn't been past the third round of a Grand Slam since winning the 2021 Australian Open. Even on the rare occasions she showed flashes of her old form, she crumbled at the finish line. It didn't seem outlandish to suggest the end of the runway was within view.
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But the day after losing in Washington, Osaka parted ways with Patrick Mouratoglou, a coach who worked with several high-profile women including Serena Williams during her late-career run of Grand Slams.
Osaka turned instead to Tomasz Wiktorowski, a no-nonsense Pole who coached Aga Radwańska and Iga Swiatek. And then, almost in with a snap of the fingers, everything changed.
One week after Washington, Osaka went to Montreal and won six straight matches to reach the final. Though she lost in dispiriting fashion to 19-year old Victoria Mboko, appearing to almost give up in the third set after she let the second slip away, it was a good enough result to get Osaka seeded No. 23 here.
Now, after beating No. 15 Daria Kasatkina, No. 3 Coco Gauff and Muchova — playing exceptionally clean tennis along the way — the turnaround seems real.
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And long overdue.
"After Wimbledon but specifically after DC, I called a roundtable of my team and I was just very confused how confident I was in myself," she said. "Because even though I lost, I remember telling them I think I can beat anyone from the baseline still and we just have to figure out if I have to change my gameplan or do something new and different, and obviously Tomasz came in the picture and we've been on a roll since then."
Can such a stark difference from just six weeks ago merely be attributed to a coaching change? Or was a true breakout only a matter of time for someone so gifted at hitting a tennis ball?
We may never know. She may never know.
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All we can say is that we didn't see the real Osaka for four years. Now, just when it seemed like that version might be gone forever, she's reappeared. And with only two matches standing between her fifth and most surprising major title, it seems she might be here to stay.
