Post by Admin on Aug 5, 2022 20:03:39 GMT
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- No.11 Coco Gauff defeated former No.1 Naomi Osaka 6-4, 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic on Thursday night. The victory leveled Gauff's career head-to-head against Osaka to two wins apiece. She will face No.2 seed Paula Badosa on Friday.
Gauff's serve proved the difference: Facing one of the best servers on tour, Gauff dominated on her service games. The serve has been clicking for the American in San Jose. In her near-perfect match in the opening round against Anhelina Kalinina she won 89.3% of her first serve points, her highest mark of the last two seasons.
That trend continued against Osaka, who was unable to generate a single break point on the youngster's serve until late in the match. Just one break of serve separated the two through the first set, but Gauff kept the pressure on Osaka in the second to break her twice and build a 5-1 lead.
Osaka's champion's mettle took over late in the second set, as she saved four match points from 0-40 to hold to 5-2. Osaka then broke Gauff for the first time in the match, as the American played her first tight game of the night.
Serving again to stay in the match, Osaka fell behind 0-40 and saved all three match points to bring her total tally to seven. Osaka hold serve with a roar to force Gauff to serve out the win for a second time at 5-4.
"When I was playing the match just now I realized that I've been letting people call me mentally weak for so long that I forgot who I was," Osaka said. "I realized that that's something that I do. I lost the match today but I feel really confident in who I am. I feel like the pressure doesn't beat me. I am the pressure. I'm really happy with that."
Gauff's serve proved the difference: Facing one of the best servers on tour, Gauff dominated on her service games. The serve has been clicking for the American in San Jose. In her near-perfect match in the opening round against Anhelina Kalinina she won 89.3% of her first serve points, her highest mark of the last two seasons.
That trend continued against Osaka, who was unable to generate a single break point on the youngster's serve until late in the match. Just one break of serve separated the two through the first set, but Gauff kept the pressure on Osaka in the second to break her twice and build a 5-1 lead.
Osaka's champion's mettle took over late in the second set, as she saved four match points from 0-40 to hold to 5-2. Osaka then broke Gauff for the first time in the match, as the American played her first tight game of the night.
Serving again to stay in the match, Osaka fell behind 0-40 and saved all three match points to bring her total tally to seven. Osaka hold serve with a roar to force Gauff to serve out the win for a second time at 5-4.
"When I was playing the match just now I realized that I've been letting people call me mentally weak for so long that I forgot who I was," Osaka said. "I realized that that's something that I do. I lost the match today but I feel really confident in who I am. I feel like the pressure doesn't beat me. I am the pressure. I'm really happy with that."