Naomi Osaka is in a good place mentally. And her clay game is improving as she heads back to Paris

By ANDREW DAMPF The Associated Press

Japan's Naomi Osaka returns the ball to Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk at the Italian Open tennis tournament, in Rome, Thursday, May 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Andrew Medichini]

ROME (AP) — A first career victory over a top-20 player on clay. In heavy and slow conditions. In a match that was suspended for about an hour because of rain. Naomi Osaka couldn’t be happier with her progress at the Italian Open after beating 20th-ranked Marta Kostyuk 6-3, 6-2 to follow up another straight-set win a day earlier. Osaka is also in a good place mentally after returning to the tour from maternity leave that resulted in her missing all of 2023. Osaka revealed issues with depression and anxiety when she withdrew from the French Open in 2021. This year’s French Open starts in less than three weeks.