US Open: Naomi Osaka ousts Coco Gauff to secure first Slam quarterfinal as a mom

NEW YORK—Naomi Osaka hit a new plateau in her comeback from maternity leave at the 2025 US Open, stunning Coco Gauff, 6-3, 6-2 in a fourth-round battle of former champions on Monday.

"This is my favorite court in the world and it means so much to me to be back here," Osaka said on court, recalling her trip to the US Open months after becoming a mom in 2023.

Making her eighth major appearance since giving birth to daughter Shai, Osaka scored her first Top 3 victory since the 2019 China Open (d. Ashleigh Barty), planting the No. 3-seeded Gauff in one hour and four minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

With the win, the No. 23 seeded-Osaka secured her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since the 2021 Australian Open; the four-time Grand Slam champion is an astounding 12-0 once she hits the last eight of a major tournament.

The most anticipated matchup of Labor Day weekend featured two of the game’s biggest stars facing off in a rematch of their storied 2019 US Open clash, when a then-15-year-old Gauff shared the stage with Osaka in a viral third-round performance. Gauff has gone on to capture two Grand Slam titles—most recently at Roland Garros in June—and lead her head-to-head with Osaka, 3-2. Their most recent meeting came last fall at the China Open, where Osaka was forced to retire with injury after splitting sets with the 21-year-old American.

Osaka has enjoyed a revitalizing summer swing since hiring Tomasz Wiktorowski, former coach of Iga Swiatek; the 27-year-old reached her first WTA 1000 final since 2022 at the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montréal and arrived to New York ranked among the Top 32 seeds. She dropped just one set in the first week, weathering a close match with No. 15 seed Daria Kasatkina to secure her best major result since that 2021 Australian Open title run.

While Osaka—flanked by a growing army of custom Labubus—has been on the rise, Gauff saw her spring form stall in spectacular fashion due to a recurrence of serving yips, serving double-digit double faults through multiple matches during the US Open swing. The dip in form led Gauff to shake up her coaching team and arrive in Flushing Meadows with biomechanic coach Gavin MacMillan, the expert responsible for re-working the serve motion of current world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka.

After struggling through her first two rounds against Ajla Tomljanovic and Donna Vekic, Gauff played more encouraging tennis against No. 28 seed Magdalena Freçh to reach the second week for a fourth straight year in New York.

Still, it was Osaka who took the initiative early against Gauff, bookending the first set with breaks of serve. Though Gauff served admirably, striking just three double faults, she struggled off the ground, striking 16 unforced errors to Osaka’s five.

With Osaka serving first to start the second set, the pressure was on Gauff to keep in touching distance of the Japanese star, who won the first 15 first-serve points played through the first set and a half.

Opening the sixth game with a fifth double fault, Gauff framed a forehand to hand Osaka two chances to break. Osaka took full advantage, outrallying Gauff to move within two games of the finish line.

Having fallen just short of upsetting then-world No. 1 Iga Swiatek at 2024 Roland Garros, Osaka looked far more game to the challenge of knocking out a big name on a major stage, drawing more errors from Gauff to consolidate and take a 5-2 lead.

A netted forehand from Gauff helped Osaka flip a 40-15 deficit and earn her first match point. A final forehand miss took Osaka over the finish line.

Standing between Osaka and the semifinals will be either No. 11 seed Karolina Muchova (who has reached the last two US Open semifinals) and No. 27 seed Marta Kostyuk.