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NEW YORK – Tears come from Coco Gauff, while the US Open, aged 15, is over against defending champion and No. 1 seed Naomi Osaka.
Then it was Osaka's turn to cry, a few moments after comforting Gauff with a hug and a few words of encouragement on Saturday night.
Gauff has already attracted a lot of attention by becoming the youngest woman to have won two Flushing Meadows since 1996, allowing her to travel to the second week of July at Wimbledon. In this highly publicized clash under the lights of the Arthur Ashe Stadium which ended 6-3 and 6-0 in favor of Osaka, Gauff often resembled what she is: a player immensely talented who continues to progress at the top of tennis.
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She served 119 mph, but she also made two fouls seven times.
She overcame a slow start to finish at 4-3 in the first set, but also lost the last eight games in a row.
"She told me that I had done wonders," said Gauff during an unusual interview on the court for the loser of a match, an idea inspired by the l '. idea of Osaka, knowing that the packed house was supporting his opponent.
"I will learn from all this match," said Gauff. "She was so nice to me."
Do not forget: the American Open was only the second Gauff Slam, ranked No. 313 at the start of Wimbledon and now No. 140.
Osaka's strengths in terms of age – she's 21 – and her achievements – she's been two-time senior champion, including at the Australian Open last January – have played a role. In the same way, his targeted power allowed the winners to win a 24-8 advantage.
"For me, it's the most concentrated sport I've known since Australia," said Osaka, who has had an eventful ups and downs since getting this trophy and carries it a black sleeve on his left knee that posed a problem recently.
Sending to Gauff, she says, "I'm so sorry for playing you [with] this type of mentality ".
At the end of the match, after just 65 minutes, Gauff started to scream. Osaka approached her and they spoke briefly. They are both based in Florida and have known each other for a few years. Their fathers are friends.
"I've been watching her for so long," Osaka said. "I thought I had to go right away."
That's what she did without a doubt, producing the first seven winners of the match before Gauff won it first. It took 10 minutes for Osaka to lead 3-0.
When Gauff called for a match, she did it with two exclamation points in the form of at 105 mph and then a point at 119 mph. Osaka slumped his shoulders. The crowd roared. It seemed, fleeting, that this could be a competitive match.
Soon, Osaka took advance – and then moved away, showing the same calm and power that had led to the championship a year ago.
Meanwhile, Gauff's body language was getting worse and worse, that it was a slap in the thigh or racket over his racket as if she were considering a spike or a gaze of the palm raised towards his parents and other people in a tribune on the side of the court to ask for more support. .
It was perhaps the most anticipated tennis match not involving Serena Williams or the male Big Three for years. Everyone in the sport, including Williams and Roger Federer, has thought about it, talked about it, intends to watch it.
It's largely because of Gauff, who has suddenly become The Next Thing Big, even though she's not yet old enough to drive, a player whose mix of skill, resilience , speed and off-road charm quickly made her a known name.
It was also because the player on the other side of the net was Osaka, born in Japan and raised in the United States, young enough to have only three tour-level titles – and talented enough to have two of them. between them came to the Grand Slam tournaments. That includes her breakthrough in New York a year ago when she played against Williams in a chaotic memorable final that ended with hue spectators and the two women in tears after the 23-time major champion had a long dispute with the chair umpire.
Next step for Osaka, a match against the 13th seed on Monday Belinda Bencic of Switzerland with a quarter-final place in the game.
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