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By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday August 4, 2022

 
Coco Gauff

Coco Gauff put forth a dazzling display of all-court tennis to eliminate Naomi Osaka at San Jose.

Coco Gauff played breathtaking tennis and negated the spellbinding power of Naomi Osaka on Thursday night in San Jose, levelling the pair’s head-to-head at two victories apiece with a 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Tennis Express

Gauff’s jaw-dropping serving and world class movement and defense tilted the court in her favor as Osaka struggled to make inroads with her power, despite clubbing the ball fairly consistently throughout the contest.

The four-time Grand Slam champion struggled to hit winners from the baseline, and she was out-aced (7-3) and out-served by the 18-year-old from start to finish – only a late rally that saw Osaka saved seven match points (four at 1-5 in the second set and another three at 3-5), made the scoreline close.

Osaka managed just 12 winners in the contest; Gauff hit 19.


It was one of the most authoritative wins of the season for Gauff on many levels. The American won 28 of 33 first serve points, and faced only one break point in the match, as Osaka mounted her last-ditch effort to keep it close. Meanwhile, Gauff earned break points consistently, and converted three of 12.

It was more proof of the confidence that Gauff is carrying after making her first trip to a Grand Slam final this spring in Paris, where she fell in the final to Iga Swiatek, and further indication that Osaka needs to grow her confidence this summer if she plans to be a threat to win the US Open next month.

Osaka played well in defeat, and showed her fortitude late as she took the score from 1-5 to 4-5 in the final set, but she’ll have to be better across a full contest to win matches against in-form players like Gauff this summer.

Gauff jumps to 27-13 on the season with her win (12-7 on hard), while Osaka drops to 13-6 (12-4 on hard).

The 18-year-old moves on to face second-seeded Paula Badosa in the quarter-finals. She’s within a whisker from making a well-deserved top-10 debut next week but will need help from Daria Kasatkina, who faces Aryna Sabalenka in quarterfinal action on Friday in San Jose.

Here’s how the rest of the final eight line up in San Jose:


It has been an excellent tournament for the Americans, as Shelby Rogers took out top-seeded Maria Sakkari on Thursday to set up a last eight clash with Amanda Anisimova, who stopped No.8-seeded Karolina Pliskova on Wednesday.

Five seeds have made it through to the quarterfinals, with Anisimova, Rogers and Veronika Kudermetova pushing through as the unseeded.

 

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