Naomi Osaka vs. Coco Gauff was the headliner matchup for the women’s draw during the Round of 16. Osaka removed most of the drama rather quickly, however.
The 23-seeded star made quick work of the 3-seeded Gauff, winning 6-3, 6-2 in a match that barely lasted over an hour. Osaka won an absurd 15 of her 16 first-serve points and was a perfect 4-for-4 on break points, while Gauff served up 33 unforced errors.
Osaka is a two-time U.S. Open winner and four-time Grand Slam champion, though she hasn’t reached a Grand Slam quarterfinals since winning the Australian Open in 2021.
Her prize for ending that drought will be a matchup against either 27-seeded Marta Kostyuk or 11-seeded Karolina Muchova.
For Gauff, a perspective shift has appeared to aid her in her quest to add a fifth Grand Slam title to her career résumé:
Her path on that journey won’t be easy, however—three of the top four seeds (No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No 2. Iga Swiatek and No. 4 Jessica Pegula) are already through to the quarterfinals.
Gauff is no longer among them, though it’s hardly a shock. The 21-year-old star reworked her serve ahead of the U.S. Open, hoping to address a previous weakness, but those changes are still clearly a work in progress.
As The Athletic’s Charlie Eccleshare and Matthew Futterman noted, “Osaka relentlessly targeted Gauff’s forehand and never erred from that strategy. It brought error after error and won point after point, and everything Gauff tried to break the pattern—heavy shots to Osaka’s backhand, hitting inside-in backhands from the middle of the court—did not do it often enough.”
The two players are now even in their all-time series at three wins apiece, though on Monday, the gulf between the two was heavily weighted in Osaka’s favor.