NEW YORK (AP) — Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka are scheduled to face each other in the U.S. Open's fourth round on Monday.
Gauff, a 21-year-old from Florida, is the Grand Slam tournament's No. 3 seed. Osaka, a 27-year-old who was born in Japan and moved to the U.S. with her family at age 3, is the No. 23 seed.
They have won a combined three titles at Flushing Meadows.
Monday's winner will make it to this year's quarterfinals.
Here is what you need to know about the most-anticipated match of the U.S. Open
so far:
The match will be held in Arthur Ashe Stadium. The exact time it will start is uncertain; that will depend on how long the contest before theirs takes to finish.
Gauff vs. Osaka is the second match in the tournament’s biggest arena on Monday, after Andrey Rublev of Russia plays against Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada in the fourth round of the men’s bracket, starting at 11:30 a.m. EDT.
So Gauff and Osaka could begin as early as 1:30 p.m. or perhaps closer to 2 or 3 p.m. — or maybe even later than that. There is just no way to know for sure.
ESPN is showing the U.S. Open in the United States. Other countries’ broadcasters are listed here.
This will be the sixth matchup between Gauff and Osaka as pros — and the second at Flushing Meadows.
Back in 2019, also in Ashe, Osaka defeated a 15-year-old Gauff in straight sets, then consoled the teary American afterward and invited her to speak to the spectators.
Gauff has won three of the four matches they have played against each other since then, so she leads the head-to-head series 3-2.
Osaka owns four Grand Slam singles championships, including at the U.S. Open in 2018 and 2020. The other two came at the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021.
Gauff, who has been working with a new coach on her serve to try to overcome double-faulting problems, has collected two major trophies in singles — at the U.S. Open in 2023 and the French Open this year — and one in doubles.
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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
