Osaka advances on Beijing; ensures the showdown in the fourth round against Gauff

Former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan moved into the round of 16 of the China Open on Monday with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Katie Volynets of the USA.

The third round game was postponed a day due to rain, but the overnight delay didn’t hinder Osaka one bit. Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka won her first meeting with world number 60 Volynets in 1 hour and 17 minutes of play.

Gauff clash confirmed: With the win, Osaka set up a big fourth-round showdown against No. 4 seed Coco Gauff, which will take place on Tuesday. It will be the first meeting between the two Grand Slam winners in over two years.

Osaka and Gauff have split their four previous encounters evenly, taking turns winning each year between 2019 and 2022. Gauff won their last meeting in San Jose in August 2022 6:4, 6:4.

Former champion on the road to success: This is Osaka’s first appearance in Beijing since she won the China Open title in 2019. Osaka is the only former champion to compete in this two-week main draw and has an outstanding record of 13-2 wins and losses in the event .

Osaka showed her top form in the first three rounds and only lost one set against number 21 seed Yulia Putintseva. This is the first time since Rome in May that Osaka has won three games in a row.

Osaka, who returned from maternity leave in the first week of this season and is currently ranked 73rd in the world, has won all seven of her WTA singles titles on hardcourt. She is aiming for her first title since the 2021 Australian Open.

Game moments: Osaka entered Monday’s encounter having been winless against the Americans since returning to the tour. This year she lost to Danielle Collins in Abu Dhabi, Emma Navarro at Wimbledon and Ashlyn Krueger in Cincinnati qualifying.

But the Japanese player beat that strange statistic with a strong performance against Volynets. Osaka was confident on serve on Monday, winning 82 percent of her first serve points and never having a break point all day.

The former world number 1’s strong forehand quickly gave her a 3-0 lead to open the game. With the score at 5-2 in the first set, Osaka hit two aces and a forehand winner to reach triple set point, then ended the love hold with a backhand winner.

Another rally backhand winner gave Osaka a quick break at 2-1 in the second set and it went from there. Volynets did well to save a match point at 5-1 and force Osaka to serve out the match, but Osaka was up to the task and canceled out a forehand error from the American on match point number two.

There’s more to come…