Tennis fans are in for a treat when Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka meet in the fourth round of the U.S. Open.
Osaka's third-round win over Australian Daria Kasatkina Saturday in three sets (6-0, 4-6, 6-3) set the stage for the star-studded showdown. Gauff, the WTA world No. 3, defeated Magdalena Fręch in straight sets (6-3, 6-1) in her third-round match Saturday.
After Osaka's win, she was asked about playing Gauff and she shared some high praise for the American star, as well as a plea for the crowd at Flushing Meadows.
"Can somebody come to the match and cheer for me?" Osaka said with a smile in front of the American crowd. "I mean it's kind of tough playing an American here, but I hope you guys kind of adopted me as well. ... I kind of also see (Gauff) as a little sister, so it's really cool to be playing her here again."
"I kinda also see her as a little sister, so it's really cool to be playing her here again."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 30, 2025
Naomi Osaka on playing against Coco Gauff at the US Open 🥺 pic.twitter.com/Yl441O5MfE
Osaka, the current world No. 24, beat Gauff in 2019 in their only meeting at the U.S. Open which came in the third round. Gauff was only 15 years old at the time, and ran into Osaka, who was just one year removed from winning the major. Four years later, Gauff won the U.S. Open and became the first American teenager to win the U.S. Open since Serena Williams did so in 1999.
The two have met five times total on the WTA tour level, with Gauff out in front at three wins to Osaka's two. Their most recent meeting came last year in Beijing, where Gauff came out on top. She's coming off a win at this year's French Open for her second major title, her only major since the historic U.S. Open win. Osaka was born in Japan before she moved to the U.S. with her family at four years old. She has four major titles, most recently at the Australian Open in 2021.
They will meet Sunday for the fourth-round match to determine who will move onto the quarterfinals.
More on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Naomi Osaka Is Just As Excited As We Are for U.S. Open Match With Coco Gauff.