By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday August 16, 2021
Coco Gauff notched a routine victory over a tricky opponent to set a popcorn second-rounder with Naomi Osaka at Cincinnati.
Photo Source: Getty
Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka have met twice on the WTA Tour, and each time there has been plenty of hype in the lead up. There could be even more when the meet for a third time on Wednesday at the Western & Southern Open, as Osaka will try to take a big step towards putting her season back together against the 17-year-old, who has been a legitimate steady climber on tour all season long.
On Tuesday in Cincinnati Gauff demonstrated just how far she has come this season as she hammered ten aces and notched an uncomplicated 6-1, 6-2 victory over Hsieh Su-Wei, a bona fide disrupter and one of the trickier players to face on the WTA Tour.
“I definitely had a lot of confidence for today, especially that she's a tricky opponent,” Gauff said. “She's a tricky opponent and someone that has beaten top players in the past and still does it now.”
On Wednesday Gauff will attempt to improve to 2-1 against a four-time major champion that is seeking to find her footing on her favorite surface after a difficult spring and summer that saw her withdraw from Roland-Garros due to mental health reasons and later pull out of Wimbledon as well.
Recently, Osaka returned to play the Tokyo Olympics, where she lost in the second round to Marketa Vondrousova, and is looking to build some momentum by stringing together a few victories in Cincinnati.
It promises to be a compelling contest between two of the tour’s most sought after commodities. Osaka, the dominant megastar who has captivated the public with her fierce tennis and quirky, vulnerable personality, ever since she claimed her first big title at Indian Wells in 2018. In Gauff, we get a precocious, driven talent who has demonstrated an ability to put her nose to the grindstone and match her extraordinary talent level with an equally impressive work ethic.
Gauff, who famously was talked into doing an emotionial post-match interview after losing to Osaka at the 2019 US Open in a moment that went viral and transcended the sport, ended up defeating Osaka at the very next Grand Slam, knocking her out in the third round at the 2020 Australian Open, where Osaka was defending champion.
The American says she has learned a lot from both experiences.
“I think I learned from that experience,” she said of the first match the pair played. “That was definitely the first match for me where all the hype and everything, you know, affected me. Because it was different against Venus (in 2019 at Wimbledon), because before the match, you know, no one expected for me to do well or anything. So there was no pressure.
“US Open match, people expected a great match. It was a great for her, but the score was not so entertaining for other people. I will say it did affect me then, but I think, you know, I needed that experience to help me now, and now, when I go into these matches, I know, you know, turn off the phone or not focus on what other people say and ignore it.
“You're out there on the court, and everything I do on the court is what I think is best at the moment, in the moment. Obviously I'm not going to make the best decisions when you look back at the match, but for me, I try my best to just focus on myself and focus on me.”