World number six Coco Gauff advanced to the quarter-finals of the China Open in a row after Naomi Osaka withdrew due to injury.
Osaka won the opening set 6-3 and led by a break in the second before Gauff came back from 4-3 down to win the final three games of the set before Osaka withdrew with a lower back injury at 3-6, 6-4.
“I’m not sure whether it was her hip or back injury, I just know that towards the end she could barely serve,” said Gauff as reported by Antara, Wednesday (2/9).
“So I knew that it was something that, at the time, was probably bad but hopefully it wasn’t a long-lasting thing.”
With this victory, Gauff is ahead in head to head over Osaka with a score of 3-2. All five meetings took place on hard courts.
Entering the match, Osaka was looking to achieve a fourth straight win for the first time since her return from maternity leave.
Also read: Winning WO, Naomi Osaka advances to the Qatar Open quarter-finals
After breaking each other’s serves to start the match, Osaka extended her lead to 3-1 after Gauff made two mistakes on the baseline.
But after being broken a second time, Osaka called the coach for a quick chat about the 3-2 change.
Osaka was careful with her movement for the next two games, and took advantage of Gauff’s more error-prone game to get a third break before serving to end the set.
Also read: Osaka advances when Gauff and Jabeur are eliminated from the Qatar Open
Gauff broke to build a 2-0 lead in the second set, but Osaka calmly fought back.
With Gauff serving at 3-3, 30-30, Osaka benefited from the American’s sixth double fault of the night and broke for a 4-3 lead.
However, Osaka committed her first double fault of the match on break point to restore her lead and Gauff held on for a draw to lead 5-4.
Also read: Defeating Osaka, Gauff advances to the quarter-finals in San Jose
With Osaka struggling to land her first serve, Gauff rallied, breaking the four-time major champion’s serve to win the second set.
Osaka immediately withdrew, greeting Gauff with a hug and apology.
“Towards the end of the second set, I really saw that it really hindered her movement,” Gauff said. “Even if you look at that last point, I was just trying to keep the ball in because I knew what was going on. But, honestly, I didn’t think he was going to give up at that point.”
“I just told him that he should be proud of himself. It wasn’t easy. I think this is the first time he has won three matches in a tournament (for a while),” said the 20-year-old.
“So physically, you can do everything you want, but match fitness is different. Hopefully, he will be fine. I think he has already signed up for Wuhan.”
Gauff, a semi-finalist in her China Open debut last year, will next face Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva for a place in her first semi-final since Berlin. (Z-6)
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