Naomi Osaka powered past Coco Gauff to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open on Monday in a one-sided match between two former champions. The Japanese star, who has won four Grand Slam titles, beat the American third seed 6-3, 6-2 in just one hour and four minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Many fans had been looking forward to this match, but it didn’t turn out to be a close contest. Gauff, who had changed her coaching team just before the tournament in hopes of improving her serve, struggled again in that area. Osaka broke her serve four times and looked confident and comfortable throughout the match.
This result marks Osaka’s first appearance in a Grand Slam quarter-final in four years. After the win, she spoke emotionally on court.
“I’m a little sensitive and I don’t want to cry,” she said. “I had so much fun out here. This is my favourite court in the world and it means so much to me to be back here.”
This is also Osaka’s best run at a major tournament since returning to tennis last year after giving birth to her daughter in 2023.
She was nearly perfect on her serve in the first set, losing only two points. She took the set after Gauff double-faulted on set point. The second set followed a similar pattern, with Osaka continuing to put pressure on her opponent. She broke Gauff again to go 4-2 up, and then once more to finish the match.
Osaka will now play either Czech 11th seed Karolina Muchova or Ukrainian 27th seed Marta Kostyuk in the quarter-finals on Wednesday.
