Osaka crushes Gauff in the day's marquee match at the US Open

There was no contest between Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff, as the Japanese player easily overpowered her opponent (6-3, 6-2) to advance to the quarterfinals of the US Open.

On this US holiday (Labor Day), the highly anticipated women's round of 16 clash between Osaka and Gauff was scheduled for the day session. But the match did not live up to expectations, revealing a significant gap in level between the two players.

Without even pushing hard, Osaka capitalized on her opponent's 33 unforced errors to build a commanding lead, and she simply held serve comfortably, with an impressive percentage of points won behind her first serve (95%) and no break points conceded.

The world No. 24 thus reaches her fifth Grand Slam quarterfinal, and her third at the US Open after 2018 and 2020.

On all four previous occasions when Osaka reached the quarterfinals of a Major, she went on to win the title. It remains to be seen whether Marta Kostyuk or Karolina Muchova will be able to halt her momentum.