Naomi Osaka defeats Coco Gauff at US Open, advancing to first slam quarterfinal since 2021 Australian Open

It’s been a long and winding road back for Naomi Osaka, but it appears she’s rediscovering her peak form — the one that made her a four-time grand slam champion — once again. Osaka, the No. 23 seed at the US Open, beat No. 3 seed Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-2. With the win, Osaka is into her first major quarterfinal since the 2021 Australian Open, which she won.

Osaka took quick advantage of Gauff’s unsteady form of late, breaking her in the very first game of the match (fittingly, the game ended with an unforced error on Gauff’s forehand). After exchanging service holds until it was 5-3, Osaka broke Gauff again, this time — again, fittingly — on a Gauff double fault. 

It was much of the same in the second set: Osaka calmly holding serve while mistakes and frustration mounted for Gauff, who was rarely able to take the upper hand on points and force Osaka to defend. Osaka was able to break Gauff in the sixth game of the set, with Gauff sending a forehand off the frame of her racket long to fall behind 15-40, and then sending a backhand into the net to lose the game.

From there, Osaka — exuding confidence and even smiling wryly after some misses — finished things in straightforward fashion. After a strong service hold, Osaka broke Gauff for the fourth time in the match; she was a perfect four-for-four on break point opportunities. Osaka produced 10 winners and just 12 errors, compared to eight winners and 33 unforced errors for Gauff.

It was refreshing to see Osaka playing so well and so carefree, especially given her struggles since the heights she reached from 2018-21.

At the 2021 French Open, Osaka said she would not do any press conferences out of concern for her mental health and later withdrew from the event. She took a second hiatus months later, after an early exit at the US Open. She returned in 2022 but was up and down and struggled with injuries. She then withdrew from the 2023 Australian Open — and missed the rest of the year — due to her pregnancy and the birth of her first child. 

“Honestly, I just had so much fun out here,” Osaka said to ESPN in her post-match interview. “… This is my favorite court in the world, and it means so much to me to be back here. I just want to say a really big ‘thank you’ to my team. We’ve kinda been through a lot, and it hasn’t always been easy, but they’ve been [at] my side.”

Remarkably, Osaka has won every slam in which she’s reached the quarterfinals — a compelling record of finishing the task. She will face the winner of No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova and No. 27 seed Marta Kostyuk in the quarterfinal.

Faulty form continues for Gauff

Overall, Gauff produced 16 errors — 11 on the forehand — and three double-faults (though also three aces) in the first set. Osaka, on the other hand, hit the ball crisply, worked angles and moving Gauff around, resulting in six winners and just five unforced errors

Gauff, who exited the court quickly after the loss, is going through some of the same struggles Osaka has dealt with. After winning the French Open, she had a first-round exit at Wimbledon and now a fourth-round exit at the US Open. She will look to continue to rebuild her serve and her baseline swing with her recently hired coaching duo of Gavin MacMillan and Jean-Christophe Faurel.