Coco Gauff’s U.S. Open came to an abrupt end under the bright lights of Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday but the 15-year-old said she would leave New York a better player after falling to world number one Naomi Osaka.
Backed by lively support from the packed home crowd, the young American was clearly overmatched against the defending champion, who needed just over an hour to book her ticket to the fourth round.
Osaka, 21, showed impressive sportsmanship by giving Gauff the opportunity to thank her fans in the post-match interview on the showcase court.
While she was full of compassion after the match Osaka was all business on the court, avoiding Gauff’s dangerous backhand and taking advantage of her shaky serving on a warm night in Flushing Meadows.
Osaka predicted Gauff would become a threat to the game’s top players when she builds some more power.
Gauff took the tennis world by storm at Wimbledon this year where she reached the fourth round and was given a wildcard to play at Flushing Meadows.
After a memorable battle in the second round with Tina Babos on Thursday Gauff was unable to make much inroads against Osaka’s powerful serve, converting two of five break point opportunities and issuing seven double faults.
Gauff’s U.S. Open is not quite over, as she will team up with Catherine McNally to take on Kveta Peschke and Nicole Melichar in the second round of the women’s doubles on Sunday.
For Osaka, a meeting with 13th seed Belinda Bencic awaits.
Rafael Nadal cruised into the U.S. Open fourth round with a business-like 6-3 6-4 6-2 win over Chung Hyeon on Saturday.
The three-times champion took control of the match when he broke the South Korean’s serve in the first set to grab a 4-2 lead and never looked back on a sunsoaked Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
Next up for Nadal is a last 16-clash with 2014 champion Marin Cilic, who came out on top in his slugfest with John Isner on the Grandstand court.
Nadal had been on court for just over two hours prior to his third round match after defeating John Millman in straight sets on Tuesday before getting a walkover into the third round when Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew.
The second seeded Spaniard, who has been hampered by troublesome knees throughout his career, did not wear his usual tape on his legs during the match.
Nadal will have his work cut out when he meets big-serving Cilic on Monday, who defeated Isner 7-5 3-6 7-6(6) 6-4.
Nadal said the key was to toppling an opponent like Cilic was holding serve and making the most of his opportunities when receiving.
German sixth seed Alexander Zverev advanced to the fourth round of the U.S. Open for the first time with a 6-7(4) 7-6(4) 6-3 7-6(3) win over Slovenia’s Aljaz Bedene on Saturday.
Zverev, who is the next highest seeded player left in the bottom half of the draw after Rafa Nadal, won six of the last seven points in the final-set tiebreak to close out the win.
The 22-year-old German fired down 25 aces and won 80% of his first-serve points as he improved his head-to-head record with Bedene to 4-0.
Up next for Zverev, who could meet Nadal in the quarter-finals, will be either 20th seed Argentine Diego Schwartzman or American Tennys Sandgren.
Canadian Bianca Andreescu brushed aside Caroline Wozniacki on Saturday to reach the last 16 in her U.S. Open main draw debut and now faces her toughest test yet in the form of net-rushing qualifier Taylor Townsend.
Andreescu, who has already won titles at Indian Wells and Toronto during an injury-hit 2019 season, beat twice finalist Wozniacki 6-4 6-4 to remain undefeated in completed matches since early March.
The 19-year-old Canadian, who has yet to drop a set at the year’s final Grand Slam, overwhelmed former world number one Wozniacki with a mix of variety and firepower.
Andreescu’s nerve was tested early in the second set when Wozniacki rallied back from a double-break down to level at 3-3 but the Canadian was unrattled and broke right back and then served her way to the win.
Things could get much trickier for Andreescu when she faces Townsend, whose aggressive net play has left a trail of frustrated opponents, including Wimbledon champion Simona Halep, who was dumped out in the second round.
Andreescu said she has never played anyone who comes to the net on virtually every point like 23-year-old Townsend but is ready to put in the work ahead of their Monday clash.