Demetrius Freeman for The New York Times
In her pretournament news conference on Friday, the defending United States Open champion Naomi Osaka was asked about her early experience at tennis’ major championships.
“My first Slam was qualies here,” Osaka said of the Open’s 128-player qualifying tournament, which allows lower-ranked players a chance to earn one of the remaining coveted spots — 16 each for men and women — in the main draw. “But we don’t count qualies.”
Osaka lost in the second round of qualifying in 2015, but the official U.S. Open record book has no mention of that.