Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka played a fantastic match for two sets, but the epilogue was unlucky for the Japanese, who had to retire due to a back injury from the 4th round of the China Open in Beijing. Naomi was also ahead by a set and a break before suffering the comeback of the young American and then retiring.
In a story published on the sidelines of the match, Naomi confided that she had been struggling with her back before the match and, of course, was disappointed to have had to withdraw from the China Open
"Hey everyone, I just wanted to say that I am extremely grateful and happy to have played in Beijing. That said, I have a backstory about today: I had a stiff back in practice earlier and I honestly wasn't sure if I could play, but I wanted to try. Unfortunately, things got progressively worse during the match. Totally worth it!" she wrote.
In the quarterfinals, Gauff will face outsider Yulia Starodubsteva, number 115 of the WTA ranking,who beat Jannik Sinner's Russian girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya with a score of 7-5 6-0. Starodubsteva is the seventh player since 2009 to reach at least the quarterfinals in her first participation in a WTA 1000 main draw.
Returning to talk about Osaka, the Japanese has already shown some progress in her new partnership with French coach Patrick Mouratoglou. The Japanese, stopped by yet another physical problem, played one of her best matches of 2024, along with the match played at Roland Garros against Iga Swiatek. Osaka played excellent tennis, showing glimpses of her old game, made of winners. A message - we all hope - for all her opponents and for the WTA Tour, which needs the Japanese's comeback at the highest level.
Talking about Mouratogloun on the eve of the China Open, Naomi analyzed: "I call him coach now. There is a lot of interest in my corner at the moment, but yeah: he is my coach. Hopefully in the long term. I like the way he coaches, I think it will be interesting. Wim is one of my favorite people. Nothing personal, nothing crazy happened. I felt like I needed a change. I would have liked to win more titles with him. I'm at a stage in my career where I don't want to have any regrets.
I need to learn as much as I can now and Patrick seems like the right person to get the information I want to learn more things. The fact that he was Serena's coach almost made me want to avoid him, because his personality is so great! Then I met him, talked to him and worked on the court with him. He is absolutely a great coach. I'm grateful that he took on this project. I still get nervous when I'm around him and stare at the ground when he looks at me, but I feel more and more comfortable every day."
