The first time Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff met in court was at the 2019 US Open. Osaka was the number one seeded after Serena Williams and Gouf invaded the scene with a 15-year-old wildcard the previous year, then won the tournament. Osaka burned teenage enemies 6-3, 6-0 in the third round, but the two remained interconnected afterwards. Six years later, the table has changed as Goff is the third seed looking to do another run with the US open title.
Gauff sits straight behind Aryna Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek in the world rankings. Swiatek holds six major titles, three Sabalenka and two Gauff. Owning four Grand Slams, Osaka is currently ranked 24th in the world, and has also built itself down significantly as an elite player.
Osaka punched tickets to the fourth round on Saturday at an impressive show with the 15th Dahlia Casatokina. Osaka is strong in service with Kasatokina, indicating that it was the first time since the Australian Open in 2021 that Osaka has made progress in the second week of the Grand Slam tournament. Osaka’s run also has her deeper into the US Open since 2020 when she won the whole.
After beating Kasatokina, Osaka saw Gouf like a “sister” and said playing in New York “feels like home.” Although Osaka was born in Japan, she grew up in the United States, including her time mission on Long Island. Still, she knows that it’s unlikely that the crowd will be behind her on Saturday.
“Can someone come to the game and cheer me on?” Osaka said. “It’s a bit tough to play Americans here, but I hope you and I both hire me.”
After winning the French Open, Golf had a disastrous Wimbledon experience, losing to Dayana Yastremska in the opening round. She split up with manager Matthew Daly just before the start of the US opening and chose to work with longtime coach Jean Christophe Faurel, adding biomechanics expert Gavin McMillan to the team to address prolonged issues involving inconsistent serves in her game.
The early returns of that decision were uneven, winning Ajla Tomljanovic in three rocky three sets followed by a straight set victory that irritated Donna Vekic. Gouf fights with tears She struggled to find consistency with her serve.
In the third round, Gauff found her footing and burned Magdalena Frech in rather short order. Now she looks forward to seeing Osaka at the flashback match.
“It would be the cool kind of deja vu, but hopefully there will be other consequences,” Goff said he faced Osaka. “It was a very exaggerated match, so I remember it was a tough moment. Looking back, I put too much pressure on myself and thought I had an opportunity to do something. I did, but I felt more anticipated than conviction.”
Gauff vs. Osaka Head-to-Head Records, Prediction
According to Draftkings, Gauff is -225 to win the match against Osaka. When she’s in the game, Gauff is the number 3 world-ranked player. The world saw how good she can do as she runs through the French Open, along with the 2023 US Open title.
Goff is 3-2 against Osaka in her career.
2019 US Open (32 rounds) | No. 1 Osaka def. Gouf (6-3, 6-0) |
2020 Australia Open | Gauff def. No. 3 OSAKA (6-3, 6-4) |
2021 Cincinnati Open | No. 2 Osaka def. Gouf (4-6, 6-3, 6-4) |
2022 San Jose | No. 6 Gauff def. Osaka (6-4, 6-4) |
2024 Bejing | No. 4 Gauff def. Osaka (3-6, 6-4, detached) |
If Gauff settles completely after her emotional and uneven first two rounds, there’s no reason to believe she’ll lose to Osaka.
Osaka has faced many struggles in recent years, and Gouf is at this point a better overall player. There’s no reason to choose a third seed, except for Goff’s meltdown, which feels like a valid possibility. Pick: Coco Gauff wins in 2 sets
