NEW YORK – Two years ago Naomi Osaka was in the stands in Arthur Ashe Stadium and Coco Gauff looked at the US Open -Final with a win over Karolina Muchova.
For Osaka it was a grim memory of where she had been – and where she was in the moment.
She was three years away from her last title at the tournament, and only two months from birth to her daughter, Shai. A spectator reminded her of what it was like to play for 24,000 people when the lights were the brightest. She couldn’t wait to go outside again.
She had not formally returned to practice, but Osaka could imagine herself outside and played against the top players, deep in Slams.
A few weeks later she returned to the practice court, more motivated than ever.
On Monday, Osaka was back in Arthur Ashe Stadium. But this time she was confronted with Gauff, now a two -time champion and the number 3 seed of the tournament, in the fourth round while the capacity is watching.
It was hyped as a must-see match between former US Open Champions and two of the biggest stars of the sport, but the game contained little drama. Osaka, 27, registered the largest and perhaps most impressive victory of her comeback with a 6-3, 6-2 victory in just 64 minutes to continue to her first large quarterfinals since 2021.
It meant everything.
“I am a bit sensitive and I don’t want to cry, but to be honest, I just had so much fun here,” Osaka said a little later on the field. “I told everyone, literally that I was in the stands for two months after I gave birth to my daughter, looked Coco. I just wanted a chance to get and play here. This is my favorite court in the world, and it means so much for me to be back here.”
Six years agoAlmost until the day, Osaka and Gauff played for the first time.
Osaka was the reigning champion and the world no. 1, and Gauff was a 15-year-old prodigy who had excited the world with her daring run to the fourth round in Wimbledon earlier in the summer. It was also invoiced as a non-Miss event on Ashe between two rising stars.
But Osaka dominated the third-round match 6-3, 6-0, and it could have been largely forgetful. But when Gauff cried on the field, Osaka comforted her and asked her to do the interview only for the winner with her after the competition mastery. Osaka then praised Gauff and her parents at a wonderful moment of sportiness. The two players have since been intrinsically connected, even when their career sustained considerably different paths.
Osaka eventually lost in the next round in New York, but the following year she won the title again, next to her second Australian Open title at the beginning of the 2021 season. She was on top of the tennis world and the clear heir of the throne of Serena Williams as the most dominant and recognizable figure in the tennis of women.
What happened after that is well documented. She announced that she would skip news conferences on the French Open only a few months later, which caused a media fire storm and resulted in her withdrawal for her second round match. She skipped Wimbledon. At the Tokyo and the US Open Olympic Games, they lost in the third round. After the early exit in New York, she told reporters that she is considering taking a break from the sport.
“I recently feel for myself, like, if I win, I don’t feel happy,” Osaka explained. “I feel more like a relief. And if I lose, I feel very sad. I don’t think that’s normal.”
Osaka returned for the 2022 season, but lost in the third round on the Australian Open and then won no other big match. She announced her pregnancy only a few days before the start of the Australian Open 2023 and many wondered if she would ever play again.
In the meantime, Gauff continued to climb the ranking through Osaka’s struggles and pregnancy leave. She reached her first grand finale on the French Open 2022 and won her first SLAM title on the US Open 2023, two days after Osaka had viewed her out of the crowd. This summer Gauff won her second big title at the French Open.
Motivated by the High level she had seen from Gauff and the rest of the top players at the US Open, and wanted to win for her daughter, Osaka had high expectations of her return in 2024.
But she did not see the immediate results for which she hoped. Although she had flashes of her vintage form-particularly during a second round collision against Iga Swiateek during the French Open of last year, she knits against the best players, and in the most crucial moments. She failed to go the second round with a major in 2024.
Disappointed by her year, she fired her coach, Wim Fissette, at the end of the season and brought in Patrick Mouratoglou, best known for his long -term collaboration with Williams. They had a number of decent results and performances on the third round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, as well as a title of 125 levels and a second place in Auckland but the two separate ways in July.
Since then, Osaka has started working with Tomasz Wiktorowski, who previously coached Swiatek to several large titles. (Swiatek now works with Fissette.) The results – those she is looking for desperate since the start of her comeback – have been immediately.
In the Canadian open last month-Hun first tournament, Osaka rattled one impressive victory after the other and reached her first final at 1000 level since 2022. In her second round match in Montreal against Liudmila Samsonova, she saved two competition points and forced a decision. Since then she has called it a turning point for her attitude and self -confidence.
“Since then I have started thinking that anything is possible,” said Osaka on Monday after beating Gauff. ‘You just have to do your best [and] Have a smile on your face. “
Osaka lost in three sets of Victoria Mboko in the final, but she arrived in New York for the first time since birth sown on a slam. She clearly felt confident and stimulated by her momentum – and happy with her collaboration with Wiktorowski.
“I work with a new coach,” said Osaka at the start of the US Open. “He is really great. He is just incredibly helpful. He cuts the chase and he gives me the feeling that he is a kind of encyclopedia of tennis, so it’s good to have someone like that in your corner.”
Osaka has always said that the US Open is her favorite tournament. Before she won her first big title – against her youth hero Williams in a controversial and dramatic final – she was a young child, watched the tournament on television and started as a fan, dreamed of one day to play at the event. Although she represents Japan, several of her childhood years spent in New York and the crowd often gives her the treatment of birth city.
The Tour is another place, with new faces on top of the ranking, and Osaka is now a different person than she was during her title runs in 2018 and 2020, with the extra responsibility to be older, next to entrepreneurial interests. But her goals on the tennis court remain the same.
And now it seems that, despite all the changes, she is able to reach them again.
During the tournament, Osaka was revived and, just like the player who once effortlessly dominated the hard courts in Queens. She only dropped one set – at no. 15 Seed Daria Kasatkina in the third round – but has been in sturdy control. Against Gauff, who has been in the discouraging process to overhaul her service motion in real time, Osaka showed her movement, strong portion and determination from the start. She won 32 of the 38 points she served, converted all four of her breaking points and, according to the WTA, overcamed in 16 of the 24 rallies who went five or more shots.
When it was over, she usually remained composed, with a big smile on her face, while her team and relatives jumped up and down in her box, excited to exchange hugs and high five.
Gauff, who was broken in the opening match, had five double mistakes in the outing, including one who sealed the first set. The 21-year-old also had 33 casual mistakes.
“It’s disappointing,” Gauff said after the game. “It was certainly not the level I wanted to bring, but it is a step in the right direction I feel, and I think emotionally this week was, I think I just came in today, and I might have been a bit empty. She forced me to earn every point there today.”
On other points in her career, Osaka was unable to hide her frustration on the field and sometimes seemed to crumble under pressure. But on Monday, and during her run in New York, Osaka has largely looked on it and has a huge balanced and positivity. She admitted that her shift in posture and body language was intentional, and an indication of where she is currently mentally.
“For me the most important [thing] I want to take this tournament away, just laugh and have fun, “said Osaka.” In this competition I just wanted to be grateful. Yes, I mean, she is one of the best players in the world. For me, to be honest, I have the most fun when I play against the best players. I like when they take great photos or they have been afreen because you know, so they have won the tournaments they have won. “
On Wednesday, Osaka takes Muchova at no. 11 in the quarterfinals. She has taken a long way since she saw Muchova playing in the semi -final two years ago, but also exactly where she always believed she would be again. Osaka, who called Muchova “one of the most talented tennis players who are there” on Monday, knows it will be a challenge. They have played twice since the return of Osaka and Split the series. Earlier this year, Osaka won their last meeting in three sets on the Australian Open.
Osaka is unbeaten in great quarter -finals during her career, but she did not put too much pressure on herself. Expect that she will be in the top 20 again for the first time since 2022 after the US Open, regardless of how she does it on Wednesday or after, she is just enthusiastic about the chance.
“I really feel relaxed,” Osaka told reporters. “I don’t feel stressed at all. I think I just wanted a better year than last year, and I already did that in Montreal. For me, whatever happens the rest of this tournament, the rest of Asia, I just try to be a better tennis player and learn from every match I play.”
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