When the US Open draw was made, one particular projected fourth-round fixture was highlighted as a blockbuster clash.
Now, a week on, we have it: Coco Gauff will face Naomi Osaka for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Both are former champions, and have been inextricably linked ever since the former, at just 15 years of age, faced the Japanese superstar on Arthur Ashe around six years ago.
So much has changed for both of them since then, and they come into the match as two titans of the sport, both fancied to challenge for this US Open title. Whoever wins this showdown will certainly enhance their credentials to do just that.
However, it’s Gauff who thinks she has a slight advantage, as she would tell the press after her third-round win.
Coco Gauff previews her US Open match vs Naomi Osaka
She admitted: “I think it’s an advantage, like, for me mentally, I think, to play a calibre opponent as her.
“I think sometimes even though all the women on tour are incredible, but when you have these matchups where you’re so heavily favourited, it puts more pressure, I think, than when you’re playing someone who, I guess, the odds people view it differently.
“If I were to play her, I think she’s having a great season and always a tough player and a threat, especially on hard court. So I think that match, I guess odds-wise, can really go either way, and I think for me that almost takes the pressure off.”
Martina Navratilova noticed how Gauff’s box reacted to her third-round win at the US Open, which was far more comfortable and relaxed than the previous one.
They will be just as stressed as the 21-year-old is about ensuring they perform admirably enough at her home Grand Slam.
Coco Gauff’s head-to-head record vs Naomi Osaka
Gauff and Osaka, as noted earlier, have been tied together for years now.
That being said, they have played just five times across their careers, with the former actually holding a slender lead of three wins to two.
Their 2019 US Open match came far too early for the youngster to be considered a genuine threat, but just months later, she got her revenge in Melbourne, dethroning the reigning champion in the Round of 32.
The following year from, Osaka was back on top, winning in Cincinnati, before 2022 saw Gauff level the head-to-head.
In the end, it was an Osaka mid-match retirement that skewed the record in the American’s favour, forced to withdraw from their Beijing battle with the scores at two sets apiece.
It will be really interesting to see whether the head-to-head is once again levelled early next week, as the 27-year-old books her spot in the quarter-finals.
