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WOMEN’S WRAP, DAY 7: Osaka shines to set up US Open last-16 clash with Gauff

football30 August 2025 04:44| © Reuters
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Naomi Osaka powered into the US Open fourth round on Saturday with a 6-0, 4-,6 6-3 win over 15th seed Daria Kasatkina to continue her best Grand Slam run since 2021.

Order of Play

Osaka lit up Louis Armstrong Stadium in broad daylight, turning her third-round clash into a showcase of power and composure.

The Japanese player dominated early, absorbed a brief second-set wobble, and closed out the win to set up a blockbuster fourth-round showdown with American third seed Coco Gauff.

"Honestly, I was trying to tell myself to stay calm. I was so shaky today, but I'm glad that it was an entertaining match," Osaka said.

Whenever I come here it feels like home and you guys are very involved and I feel grateful, thank you.

"Can someone come to the match and cheer for me?" the 27-year-old added. "I mean, it's kinda tough playing an American here, but I hope you guys have adopted me. I kinda see her as a little sister, so it's cool to be playing her here."

From the first point, Osaka looked sharp, putting pressure on Kasatkina with an early break gifted to her by a double fault before racing into a 3-0 lead.

Kasatkina's delivery deserted her in the first set with eight double faults and only 25 percent of first serves landing as Osaka coolly dished out a bagel in 22 minutes.

Kasatkina, however, forced a decider after a scrappy second set riddled with breaks. Errors crept in on both sides, Osaka's frustration surfaced, and Kasatkina steadied enough to seize the lead.

Seven service breaks kept the set on edge before the Russian-born player finally held her nerve to level the match.

Osaka, however, regained her composure in the third.

She saved a break point with two blistering winners and surged into a 3-1 lead before closing out the match to stay on course for a third U.S. Open title.

SWIATEK SURVIVES KALINSKAYA SCARE TO REACH LAST 16

World No 2 Iga Swiatek weathered a fierce challenge from Anna Kalinskaya before prevailing 7-6(2) 6-4 in a dramatic third-round clash at the US Open on Saturday.

Poland's Swiatek, playing her first evening match under the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights at this year's tournament, looked anything but comfortable as Kalinskaya raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening set.

The 29th seeded Russian appeared poised to repeat her stunning victory over Swiatek in Dubai last year, but the 2022 US Open champion showed her championship mettle, clawing back to force a tiebreak where she dominated 7-2.

The second set proved equally testing, with both players exchanging breaks of serve at the beginning.

Kalinskaya, who owns a respectable 5-6 career record against top-five players, continued to trouble the six-time Grand Slam champion with aggressive baseline play.

But the Pole found her range when it mattered most, securing the decisive break at 5-4 and closing out the match.

"Anna was playing great. She was really playing all these risky balls it like she once did against me in Dubai," said Swiatek on court. "I wanted to make less mistakes, I was playing good but in the last shots I couldn't finish it."

The victory improves her head-to-head record with Kalinskaya to 2-1 and gives her a tour-leading 17 match wins since the start of Wimbledon.

The win also moves Swiatek level with Aryna Sabalenka with 20 Grand Slam match wins in 2025 as she continues her pursuit of a second US Open title.

GAUFF FINDS FORM IN THIRD-ROUND WIN

American third seed Coco Gauff completed a confidence-boosting 6-3 6-1 win over Poland's Magdalena Frech in the US Open third round on Saturday, finding her rhythm after a nervous start to the tournament.

Gauff made a flurry of unforced errors in her opening match and struggled with her serve in a tearful second-round win, but the 2023 champion kept her cool to subdue the 28th seed and set up a blockbuster fourth round showdown with another Flushing Meadows fan favourite – twice winner Naomi Osaka.

"I have been on this tour since I was 15, and I think I've done pretty well with the mental side of things," she said.

"There are moments I wish I could show up better, but when they happen, I think I just try to get up and be a better version of myself. Well, sometimes the next point, not even the next day."

After trading early breaks, Gauff broke the Pole in the eighth game and pumped her fist in celebration as Frech sent a shot out on set point.

The Roland Garros winner showed considerable improvements on her much-maligned serve, with four double faults compared to 18 across her first two rounds, and outlasted Frech in a 20-shot rally to get the break in the third game of the second set.

Gauff broke her to love in the fifth as the unseeded Pole made a number of unforced errors and was firing on all cylinders from the baseline in the final game as Frech sent another shot out on match point.

"It's been an emotional week," said Gauff, who booked her fourth straight trip to the Flushing Meadows round of 16.

"I think I needed those tough moments to be able to move forward. I was putting so much pressure on myself."

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