NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka eliminated Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-2 in 64 minutes at the US Open on Monday to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in more than 4½ years.
Osaka advances to her fifth major quarterfinal, and first since giving birth to daughter Shai in July 2023. Every time Osaka has made the quarterfinal round of a major, she has gone on to win it, her last Slam coming at the 2021 Australian Open.
“This is kind of unchartered territory at this point of my career,” said Osaka, a 27-year-old who was born in Japan and moved to the U.S. with her family at age 3. “I’m just enjoying it. I’m having fun. I’m being able to play against the best players in the world.”
The No. 23-seeded Osaka was better throughout than No. 3 Gauff, whose repeated mistakes during a tournament that has been a near-constant struggle for her really made the difference.
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Still, Gauff vowed afterward: “I am not going to let this crush me.”
Osaka displayed the demeanor, big serve and booming strokes that have carried her to four major championships, all on hard courts. Those titles came at the US 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 holds 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 return to her best play since she rejoined the tour after a 17-month maternity leave.
“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 at the 2019 US Open, also in Arthur Ashe Stadium, and also won that one.
“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. Her problematic serve was fine; other strokes were the problem. She finished with 33 unforced errors — far more than Osaka’s 12.
Plus, Osaka’s serving and returning were terrific. She won 32 of the 38 points she served — 15 of 16 when first serves landed in — and never faced a break point. She also converted all four break chances she earned.
(23) Osaka def. (3) Gauff: 6-3, 6-2
• Osaka reaches 5th major quarterfinal and first since 2021 Australian Open; has gone on to win title in every previous instance of reaching major QF (all on hard court)
• 27th US Open match win, breaking tie with Australian Open (26) for Osaka’s most at any major
• First career major win vs. WTA top-5 opponent (previously 0-2)
• Won 32 of 38 service points (84%), including 15 of 16 points on first serve (94%); lost 1 or 0 points in 7 of 8 service games
• Gauff won 5 games, 3rd fewest in major career and fewest since 2022 French Open
• Gauff’s first straight-sets loss at US Open since 2022 QF vs. Caroline Garcia
• Gauff has lost in round of 16 at US Open in consecutive years since winning title in 2023
— ESPN Research
“She forced me to earn every point out there today,” Gauff acknowledged.
Osaka used her forehand, her best stroke, to go after Gauff’s forehand, her worst.
By the end of the first set, Gauff had made 16 unforced errors and Osaka only five. By the end of the match, 20 of Gauff’s unforced errors were off the forehand side.
“After the match, I was really disappointed. Kind of broke down to my team,” Gauff said. “Then, hearing their perspectives and everything, it definitely is a lot of positive things.”
On Wednesday, Osaka will face No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova — who got past 45-year-old Venus Williams in three sets in the first round of this US Open — for a berth in the semifinals. Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up and a semifinalist in New York the past two years, advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-7 (0), 6-3 victory No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine.
Muchova, a 29-year-old from Czechia, became the fourth woman in the Open era to win a three-setter in four straight rounds at Flushing Meadows, joining Lesley Hunt (1978), Sylvia Hanika (1979) and Jelena Ostapenko (2023).
Muchova beat Osaka in the second round last year at the US Open.
“She’s always been one of the most talented tennis players out there, and physically she moves really well, and she’s very strong,” Osaka said. “So it’s going to be a really tough challenge.”
ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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