WHAT HAPPENED: Naomi Osaka played her best US Open match in years to speed past No. 3 seed Coco Gauff, 6-3, 6-2 on Monday.
Osaka commanded proceedings from the start against the 2023 US Open champion, who battled early nerves and struggled all match to make a dent in Osaka’s service games.
In front of a packed and partisan Arthur Ashe Stadium Labor Day crowd, Osaka played almost flawlessly to return to her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2021 Australian Open and her fifth overall.
Every time Osaka has advanced to this stage at a major championship in the past, she has eventually won the title.
“I was super locked in,” Osaka said. “I just had so much fun out here.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion will meet No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova of Czechia for a place in the 2025 US Open semifinals.
Muchova is a two-time US Open semifinalist and beat No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, 6-3, 6-7(0), 6-3, to reach the last eight.
“I just really wanted an opportunity to come out here and play. This is my favorite court in the world, and it means so much to me to be back here,” said Osaka, who last reached the US Open quarterfinals en route to the 2020 title, when fans couldn’t attend the tournament.
“Big thank you to my team. We've kind of been through a lot, and you know, it hasn't always been easy.”
The four-time Grand Slam champion was “locked in” immediately, winning eight of the first nine points against Gauff, who was trying to reach her third US Open quarterfinal.
As Osaka was steady from the baseline, Gauff was shaky, sailing a second-serve forehand return long to give Osaka the early break.
Untimely double faults that Gauff avoided in her third-round match also crept back into her game.
While serving to stay in the first set at 3-5, the American donated two of her five double faults, including on set point. She finished with 33 unforced errors and never saw a break point.
“I just made way too many mistakes, way too many errors, which I feel like that's the part of my game that I felt the most confident in coming into the tournament,” Gauff said. “It’s disappointing… She forced me to earn every point out there today.”
Gauff had won bigger matches of late compared to Osaka, including the 2025 Roland Garros women’s singles title. But it was the 27-year-old former world No. 1 who exhibited no signs of noticing the moment.
Osaka broke twice more in the second set and won all four of her break points for the match. On serve, she won 85% (32/38) of her service points. And from the back of the court, she was vintage Osaka. For the match, she hit only 12 unforced errors.
WHAT IT MEANS: So is Osaka now the player to beat in the 2025 US Open women’s singles draw? Perhaps not quite but she will have all eyes on her in the second week.
Osaka is playing well, and most importantly, cherishing her time on court. She last reached this stage four and a half years ago, and before giving birth to her daughter, Shai, in July 2023.
“What I want to take away from this tournament is just smiling and having fun,” Osaka said. “Going into this match, I just wanted to be grateful. Yeah, I mean, she's one of the best players in the world. For me, honestly, I have the most fun when I play against the best players.”
MATCH POINT: Osaka has won seven titles, all of which have come on hard courts.
