In a highly anticipated fourth round showdown between two former U.S. Open champions, Naomi Osaka put on a strong performance to defeat third seed Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-2.
Osaka  showed signs of her old brilliance on Monday, after years of bitter disappointment at the year’s final major, while 2023 champion Gauff struggled with her forehand and serve.
Osaka will next face Czech 11th seed Karolina Muchova in the semifinals of Flushing Meadows, which was the result of her first move in five years.
Four-time Grand Slam champion and 2020 champion, Osaka, who won in New York in 2018 and 2020 but failed to advance past the third round on her last three attempts, said, “The main thing I want to take away from this tournament is just smiling and having fun.”
“It’s really the most enjoyable when I play against the best players,” says one player.
The two fan favorites haven’t met in New York since their memorable 2019 , tussle when Gauff lost to Osaka at the age of 15, in a showdown on Monday.
As the two began to battle, with Osaka breaking Gauff from the baseline in the opening game in a superb first set, the fans who had been chattering all the way through the earlier match on Ashe ceased to speak.
Gauff attempted to rebuild her serve for many months, but she was let down by it once more when she made a double error on set point, one of five overall.
The American began making mistakes as she continued to blame them on Osaka for an unforced error in the sixth game of the second set. She vented her frustration toward her box during the final game, telling her coaches, “Nothing’s working.”
After Gauff burst into the net with a shot into the net on match point, the pair briefly embraced and Osaka grinned in a subdued celebration.
“I have some sensitivity,” I said. I’m not in tears, either. I thoroughly enjoyed my time out here,” Osaka said.
“Thank you so much to my team. They have been by my side despite what we have gone through.
Osaka’s revival was founded on faith.
Osaka has a history of winning the trophy in New York, and she will be hoping to keep that track record.
Before resuming Roland Garros to defend her mental well-being after disclosing her struggles with depression, she won the final of her four Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open in 2021.
Following an unexpected third-round defeat, the Japanese player announced that she would take a break from playing and then skipped Wimbledon before leaving the U.S. Open in tears. She also took a 2023 season-long maternity leave.
Following her maternity break, she finally looked to have regained her composure after making the Montreal final last month despite failing to make it past the third round of slams at her first seven attempts.
She never had any doubts about returning to this stage of the majors, despite the fact that her partnership with new coach Tomasz Wiktorowski appears to be working.
After displaying yet another bejeweled , Labubu charm, she had named “Althea Glitterson” in honor of the late pioneer Gibson, she told reporters, “You have to imagine it, and then you have to believe it for it to actually come true.”
And despite her difficulties, Osaka, according to , never thought about giving up the sport altogether.
She said, “It would be very frightening to hang up my racket for me permanently.” It’s like giving in to air, they say.
Swiatek enters quarters on foot.
Iga Swiatek, the former U.S. Open champion, beat 13th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-1, sealing her place in the quarterfinals in New York with a laser-focused effort.
The 24-year-old became the youngest woman to reach the quarterfinals of all four Grand Slams in a single season since Maria Sharapova, 18, did it in 2005 with a crushing victory at Louis Armstrong Stadium.
As Swiatek  waited patiently for her on-court interview, she claimed to be messaging her coach Wim Fissette while typing furiously on her phone.
The world no. 2 said, “I asked him to book a practice court for 10 minutes, if possible,” before explaining how it helped her reach her 13th major quarter-final.
“I would describe the focus and intensity. She initially appeared to play quickly, and the court changed. After that, I needed to find my rhythm and was inside.
I forced the ball to enter. I’m satisfied with the standard.
In a repeat of the Wimbledon final, which Swiatek won 6-0, 6-0, Amanda Anisimova will face the Polish second seed.
Source: Aljazeera
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