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In a third round match and his first career game, the 21-year-old, the world's No. 1 Japanese, defeated the 15-year-old American 6-3, 6-0 on Saturday to claim qualify for the round of 16. .
After the match, in a move that we do not often see in tennis, Osaka kissed Gauff and asked the teenager to share her interview with her on the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Gauff first stated that she did not want to do it because she knew that she would cry.
"She encouraged me to do it," Gauff told ESPN in tears.
Gauff went on to say, "I'm going to learn a lot from this game, she was so nice to me, so thanks for that, thank you."
After interviewing Gauff, she said, "Thank you, Naomi, I do not want people to think that I'm trying to take this moment from her, because she really deserves it."
Before ESPN could ask a question to Osaka, she went to Gauff and gave him another hug that drew roars among the crowd.
"I do not think I'm a mentor," Osaka told ESPN before turning to Gauff's reader, who included the teenager's parents. Osaka and Gauff both live in Florida and have known each other for a few years.
"You raised an incredible player," said Osaka, before crying herself.
"I remember seeing your guys training in the same place as us," Osaka continued. "For me, like the fact that we both did well and were still working as hard as we could, I think it's amazing, I think you're awesome, I think, Coco, you're awesome. "
Osaka will then play Switzerland, Belinda Bencic, number 13, of Switzerland, who made a pass in the fourth round when Anett Kontaveit retired before her match due to illness.
Osaka became the first Japanese player to win a major singles title when she defeated her idol, Serena Williams, in the US Open final last year, making her a megastar. . The Japanese-Haitian, who has dual Japanese and American nationality, won her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January. She wants to become the first woman to defend the US Open since Williams won three in a row between 2012 and 2014.
It was Gauff's first match against an opponent ranked in the top 5 of his career. She was looking to become the youngest player to reach the fourth round at the US Open since Anna Kournikova in 1996.
The youngest player in the draw, Gauff made his singles debut at the US Open as a wild card. Her tournament is not over yet, as she teams up with the 17-year-old American Caty McNally, who lost to Serena Williams on Wednesday.
Gauff and McNally beat Julia Goerges and Katerina Siniakova in the first round and will face No. 9 seed Nicole Melichar and Kveta Peschke in the second round on Sunday. The pair won the women's doubles title at the Citi Open in Washington earlier in August. In 2018, Gauff and McNally won the doubles title at the US Open.
Gauff caused a sensation in July when she reached the fourth round of Wimbledon, beating the game of Venus Williams.
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