In a blockbuster third-round matchup and in their first career meeting, the world No. 1 and 21-year-old from Japan bested the 15-year old American 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday to advance to the round of 16.
Osaka next will face No. 13 seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland, who received a walkover to the fourth round when Anett Kontaveit withdrew ahead of their match due to illness.
Osaka became the first Japanese player to win a major singles title when she defeated her idol, Serena Williams, in last year's US Open final, making her a megastar. The Japanese-Haitian, who has dual Japanese and American citizenship, won her second grand slam crown at the Australian Open in January. She is bidding to become the first woman to defend the US Open since Williams won three in a row from 2012 to 2014.
This was Gauff's first match against an opponent ranked in the top 5 in her career. She was looking to be youngest player to reach the fourth round at US Open since Anna Kournikova in 1996.
The youngest player in the draw, Gauff was making her US Open singles debut as a wild card. Her tournament is not yet complete, however, as she's teaming up in women's doubles with 17-year-old fellow American Caty McNally, who lost to Serena Williams on Wednesday.
Gauff and McNally defeated Julia Goerges and Katerina Siniakova in the first round and will face the No. 9 seeds, Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke, in the second round Sunday. The pair claimed the women's doubles title at the Citi Open in Washington earlier this month. In 2018, Gauff and McNally won the US Open girls' doubles title.
Gauff became an overnight sensation in July when she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon, beating the likes of Venus Williams in the process.
In her run, she also became the first 15-year-old to reach the last 16 at Wimbledon since Martina Hingis in 1996. Gauff's Wimbledon came to an end at the hands of eventual champion Simona Halep, who lost Thursday to 23-year-old American Taylor Townsend.
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