Two players will enter Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday afternoon, but only one will be able to walk away as 2018 US Open champion. No. 20 seed Naomi Osaka of Japan and No. 17 seed Serena Williams will square off in the final of the last Grand Slam of the season.
There's history on the line for both: the rising 20-year-old Japanese player is the first woman from her country to reach a Grand Slam singles final, while the six-time US Open champion will be seeking a 24th Grand Slam crown, which would tie her with Australia's Margaret Court for the all-time record.
They've already played once this year, but as Williams put it in her post-semifinal press conference, that was "a totally different situation."
The Miami Open in March was just Williams' second tournament back after giving birth, with Osaka having just come off a win at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells for her first career title.
"It was good that I played her because I kind of know how she plays now. It was what it was," Williams said. "I mean, hopefully I won't play like that again. I can only go up from that match."
A legend takes on a rising star on one of the biggest stages in the sport – but how do their games stack up?
Naomi Osaka
2018 has been a season of adjustment for the Japanese No. 1. After being vaulted into stardom by winning the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells in March, Osaka went from being one of the WTA's next big things to having truly arrived.
Having reached just one semifinal in the months prior to coming to the US Open, Osaka has brought her best tennis to Flushing Meadows.
She's lost just one set in the entire fortnight – against a fellow 20-year-old rising star, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, in the fourth round – and even posted a streak of 22 straight games won in week one.
"I think that I'm really grateful I had the experience of Indian Wells because that was also another big tournament. For me, the quarters was bigger than getting to the semis. I think after I passed that stage, then I was fine again," she said.
"In Cincinnati after I lost, I lost three matches in a row. I was in the locker room and I was just crying because I thought, 'Wow, I'm really bad at tennis.' I came here and I was just thinking, I'm going to have fun and fight for every point that I can. I'll still here, so in a way, I'm glad that I lost those three matches because I think my mentality would have been different coming into this tournament."
With Williams and Osaka ranking first and fourth in aces this fortnight, respectively, big serving will be on display in the women's final, and breaks will be at a premium.
Osaka already has experience with that kind of match thanks to her semifinal victory over Madison Keys, where she saved all 13 break points she faced – which led to Keys proclaiming in her post-match press conference that "she can definitely give Serena a run for her money."
"I just start thinking about the things that I can control. If I hit a good serve, she hits a winner off of it, there's nothing I can do," Osaka said. "I already know that was a possibility since she's such a great player. I was just thinking, like, taking every point one ball at a time and seeing what I can do to help myself in the situation.
"I'm really happy that [Keys] said that. I feel like every day that I play, I always want to keep improving, so I'm never really sure what my top level is. But I think for sure today I played really well, and I had to because she's such a great player. She has a really good record against me. I'm just right now happy that she said that."
Though Osaka enters Saturday with a winning record against the former world No. 1, Osaka is approaching the final as a new match.
"For starters, when you just come back and then you make the finals of two Slams, I think that's really amazing. I'm sure that everyone knows that Serena's really good, of course," Osaka said.
"I really feel like I don't want to overthink this match, so I'm not going to think that she's so much better than she was in Miami. I'm just going to go out there and play. Since I already know she's a good player, I don't want to be surprised if she plays better or not."
Serena Williams
Once more, Serena Williams is just one match away from adding another chapter to the history books.
If you ask her, though, the Serena that's fighting for a seventh US Open title is much different than the one who won the first six.
"I'm still waiting to get to be the Serena that I was, and I don't know if I'll ever be that physically, emotionally, mentally. But I'm on my way. I feel like I still have a ways to go. Once I get there, I'll be able to play even, hopefully, better," she said.
"I feel like there's so many examples that I try to set, but I'm still trying to set examples. I'm still learning, too. I'm still in this learning process of how to be better, just continue to just be positive."
Even though the 23-time major champion thinks she can be better, her form this fortnight has been nearly flawless. She's lost just one set in six matches, and she's shown off all her skills on court as the fortnight has progressed.
In her semifinal victory over Anastasija Sevastova, herself an all-court player who possesses a devilish drop shot when her game is working well, Williams came up to the net 28 times in a 6-3, 6-0 victory.
"I've been practicing that. I think it just depends. This particular player, I felt like I needed to come in more. For me, I need to maybe do little things different for each player," she said.
"I felt like I've lost a lot of matches against players like this. Not a lot, but I've lost some. I want to see what I can do better to win matches against players that get a lot of balls back, keep trying to improve."
Osaka has been vocal in her admiration for the American champion as she's soared through the ranks, but Williams says that her focus on the process and the journey back to the top might give her a wildcard advantage in Saturday's championship.
"I feel like they definitely have a lot of respect for me. I have the same respect. However, these young ladies have been playing way longer consistently, so I just feel like they're at a little bit of an advantage, but I have an advantage of I have nothing to lose," she said.
"I'm going to go out there and do what I can."
