Coco Gauff moves to quarter-finals after retirement due to Naomi Osaka’s injury

The much-anticipated fifth match-up between No. 4 seed Coco Gauff and 2019 China Open champion Naomi Osaka was cut short by Osaka’s retirement due to a lower back injury after the second set. Although the first set was competitive, by the end of the second Osaka was barely able to complete points. The match went to Gauff with a 3-6, 6-4 retirement win.

The match started off with both players trading shots in long rallies. The first game had the two slowly feeling each other out in their first meeting since 2022, but the set picked up an increasing intensity. Osaka and Gauff were able to break each other’s first service games and there was significant movement up and down the court from both players. While Osaka and Gauff both missed opportunities to fully capitalize on the opposite’s mistakes, they still made great use of their ability to place balls. Osaka came out looking more solid, enabling her to claim the set 6-3. This was the first match during the tournament in which Gauff dropped a set.

In the second set, Gauff began to dominate with renewed aggression. However, she still made mistakes, like two double faults in Game 3 during a drawn-out deuce that ultimately went to Osaka. After the seventh game Osaka led 4-3 but had started to slow down in her hard-hitting play. Osaka lost the next game to Gauff by double faulting and began to show signs of distress. After Gauff broke Osaka’s serve to level the set at 4-4, Osaka allowed Gauff to overtake her with strong serves and returns. During breaks throughout the second set Osaka had been talking with her team and holding her back. After Osaka was broken in the 10^th game, she retired due to her back injury.

Gauff and Osaka shared a hug and some smiles before Osaka headed back toward the locker room, with Gauff carrying Osaka’s bag for her. The two shared a respectful end to the match, and Gauff expressed understanding in a post-match interview.

“Towards the end I saw she could barely jump on her serve so I knew something in the moment was bad,” Gauff said. “Towards the end of the second set I just saw that [Osaka’s back injury] was hampering her movement a lot.”

Moving into the quarterfinals for the second straight year, Gauff still has some cleaning up to do – like an inconsistent serve that yielded her both six aces and six double faults. She’ll face World No. 115 Yulia Starodubtseva, who upset No. 10 seed Anna Kalinskaya in the fourth round.

—Reporting by CJ Christy