It was a long, winding road for Naomi Osaka, but she appears to be rediscovering her peak format — making her a four-time Grand Slam champion — again — defeating Osaka, the No. 23 seed and third-seeded Coco Goff 6-3, 6-2. The victory has led Osaka to be caught up in her first major quarterfinals since the Australian opening in 2021.
Osaka quickly took advantage of Gouff’s recent unstable form and broke her in the first game of the match (appropriately, the game ended with a forced error in Gauff’s forehand). After swapping services until it was 5-3, Osaka defeated Gouf again.
It was pretty much the same in the second set. Mistakes and frustration were attached to Gouf while Osaka kept his serve. Osaka was able to break Goff in the sixth game on the set, and Goff fell behind the forehand from the frame of the racket to 15-40, then sent the backhand into the net, losing the game.
From there, Osaka – after a few mistakes, even smiling even more – made things in an easy way. After a strong service hold, Osaka defeated Gouf for the fourth time in the match. She was a perfect 4-4 opportunity with breakpoint opportunities. Osaka produced 10 winners and just 12 errors compared to Gauff’s eight winners and 33 forced errors.
It was refreshing to see Osaka play so well and feel at ease, especially considering her struggles since she reached her in 2018-21.
At the 2021 French Open, Osaka said it would not hold a press conference due to concerns about its mental health and later retreated from the event. She took her second break a few months later after an early exit at the US Open. She returned in 2022, but struggled with injuries as she went up and down. She then withdrew from the Australian opening in 2023 due to pregnancy and the birth of her first child.
“To be honest, I had a lot of fun here,” Osaka told ESPN in an interview after the match. “…this is my favorite courthouse in the world and going back here means so much to me. I just want to say a really big ‘thank you’ to the team.
Surprisingly, Osaka won every slam she reached the quarterfinals — a compelling record of finishing the task. She will face the winners of No. 11 seed Karolina Man Velva and 27 seed Marta Kostuk in the quarterfinals.
US Open (2025) | TBD |
Australia Open (2021) | yes |
US Open (2020) | yes |
Australia Open (2019) | yes |
| US Open (2018) | yes |
Gauff continues with a broken form
Overall, Gauff generated 16 errors with three double faults (and three ACEs too) in the first set (11 in the forehand). Meanwhile, Osaka hit the ball sharply, moved the angle and moved the Gouf, causing six winners and five unprotected errors.
Goff, who left the court immediately after his loss, has experienced some of the same struggles that Osaka dealt with. After winning the French Open, she had a first round exit at Wimbledon and now a four round exit at the US Open. She continues to rebuild her serve and swing alongside the coaching duo of Gavin Macmillan and Jean-Christophe Faurel, who recently adopted her baseline swing.
