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Defending Champ Osaka Needs Three Sets But Advances At U.S. Open

NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka put her right hand in the shape of a gun and pointed two fingers at her temple, her face grim as she looked toward her guest box.

She'd just dropped the second set, moments after wasting a match point, as her U.S. Open title defense got off to a shaky start Tuesday. Her body language told the story: the eye rolls, the balled up fists covering her face at a changeover, the racket resting atop her head.

Back in Arthur Ashe Stadium, where she beat Serena Williams in last year's chaotic final, the No.