“ Feels kind of special, ” said an excited Naomi Osaka, highlighting her eagerness to take on Coco Gauff once again at the US Open. The last time these two tennis behemoths collided at Flushing Meadows in 2019, it was the Japanese star who had the last laugh. Naturally, this time, fans had hoped for the result to tip in favor of Gauff. Well, that didn’t happen. But as it turns out, experts in the sport were already prepared for something like this.

The 4x Grand Slam winner Osaka thrashed Coco in straight sets (6-3, 6-2) to advance to the US Open quarterfinal, while the latter’s dream of winning her second title at the New York tournament remained unaccomplished. While this will definitely hurt the ardent home fans, Sam Querrey, Steve Johnson, and Jack Sock noted that they knew such a

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