NEW YORK (AP) — Naomi Osaka eliminated Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-2 at the U.S. Open with a far more confident and consistent brand of tennis Monday to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in more than 4 1/2 years.
The No. 23-seeded Osaka was better throughout than No. 3 Gauff, whose repeated mistakes really made the difference in Arthur Ashe Stadium.
“I was super locked in, to be honest. I was really locked in," said Osaka, a 27-year-old who was born in Japan and moved to the U.S. with her family at age 3. "I felt like everyone wanted to watch a really great match, and I hope that’s what you got.”
From her side, it certainly was. Osaka displayed the demeanor — and, importantly, the big serve and booming strokes — that have carried her to four major championships, all on hard courts. That includes titles at the U.S. Open in 2018 and 2020, and at the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021.
It was at the French Open later in 2021 that Osaka helped spark a global conversation about mental health by revealing she felt anxiety and depression. She then took a series of breaks from the tour.
That most recent trophy at Melbourne Park was the last time Osaka had even made it as far as the fourth round at any Slam event until this match against Gauff, a 21-year-old from Florida who owns two major trophies. The first came at Flushing Meadows in 2023 and the second at the French Open this June.
For Osaka, this marks a real return to her best play since she returned to the tour after a 17-month maternity leave. Her child, Shai, was born in July 2023.
“I’m a little sensitive and I don’t want to cry, but honestly, I just had so much fun out here," said Osaka, who first played Gauff back at the 2019 U.S. Open, also in Ashe, and won that one, too.
“I was in the stands like two months after I gave birth to my daughter, watching Coco. I just really wanted an opportunity to come out here and play,” Osaka told the crowd. "This is my favorite court in the world, and it means so much for me to be back here.”
Gauff came out jittery at the start. Her serve was fine; other strokes were the problem. She finished with 33 unforced errors — way more than Osaka’s 12.
Trying to rework her serve during this tournament with the help of biomechanics expert Gavin MacMillan, Gauff got broken right off the bat and was down 2-0 after just five minutes, dropping eight of the initial nine points while making five unforced errors.
Whether because it’s what the prematch strategy dictated or because of how the beginning unfolded, Gauff cranked up the velocity in her second service game. The results were unimpeachable. She hit four first serves in — each arriving no slower than 110 mph, with a high of 115 mph — and held at love with a pair of aces and a pair of service winners.
Still, this is where the key difference was: Osaka used her big forehand, her best stroke, to go after Gauff’s forehand, her worst stroke, and it worked wonders. By the end of the first set, Gauff had made 16 unforced errors and Osaka only five.
Osaka slapped her left thigh between points and repeatedly told herself, “Come on! Come on!”
That positive body language was quite a contrast to Gauff’s. She repeatedly would put her palms up or gesture toward her team in the stands, looking confused or upset.
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press
