By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Tuesday October 1, 2024
A highly anticipated clash of former Slam champions ended in an unfortunate manner on Tuesdsay in Beijing.
Photo Source: TTV
Naomi Osaka’s bid to score her second Top-10 win of the season ended in an injury retirement on Tuesday in Beijing. The four-time major champion suffered an undisclosed injury that forced her to pull the plug after dropping the second set, which sent Coco Gauff through, 3-6, 6-4 RET.
Osaka later reported, via her Instagram feed, that her issue was with her back. She said her back had seized up during practice before the match:
Despite the rough injury luck, Tuesday's contest was an interesting clash of former Grand Slam champions, with Osaka and Gauff mixing spurts of brilliance and inconsistency across their fifth career meeting and first since 2022. The one hour and 27-minute contest was an entertaining tussle with both players battling for the upper hand as they sought to begin relationships with their new coaches on the right foot.
Gauff, who recently parted ways with Brad Gilbert after 14 months, has Matt Daly in her coaching box for the first time in Beijing. Osaka, who ended her partnership with Wim Fissette, had Serena Williams former coach Patrick Mouratoglou sitting courtside with her team.
In the end it is Gauff who will continue her run. She'll face Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva in the last eight on Thursday.
Osaka, making her return to Beijing for the first time since winning the title in 2019, sees her China Open win streak snapped at nine.
“I wish Naomi a speedy recovery,” Gauff said. “Nobody wants to win a match like this, especially at one set all. Overall I tried my best. It wasn’t my best tennis, I don’t know, it was just one of those matches where you’re trying your best on each point.”
Gauff had her share of struggles, and after dropping the opening set she squandered a 2-0 lead in the second. Osaka was in the driver’s seat with a 6-3, 4-3 lead while serving for 5-3, but struggles mounted at that point and she dropped the final three games before calling it quits with the injury.
After shaking hands with Gauff, the American helped Osaka carry her bags off the court.
Gauff hit 20 winners and 27 unforced errors in the contest, and pitched in six double faults. Both players surrendered five service breaks.
Badosa Logs First Top-10 Win in Over a Year
Paula Badosa’s resurgence continues in Beijing, where the Spaniard took out 2024 US Open finalist Jessica Pegula 6-4, 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals.
In her main draw debut, the Spaniard snapped a three-match losing streak to Pegula to set a quarterfinal with resurgent Zhang Shuai of China.
Shuai, who snapped a 24-match losing streak at the start of the tournament, defeated Poland’s Magdalena Frech 6-4, 6-2 to become the lowest-ranked quarterfinalist in China Open history at No.595.
In other action, Ukrainian qualifier Starodubtseva stunned tenth-seeded Anna Kalinskaya 7-5, 6-0 to reach her first WTA 1000 quarterfinal. The 24-year-old World No.115, who is the eighth player to reach the last eight on her WTA 1000 debut, will make her Top-100 debut as a result of her run.