Coco Gauff weeps after Osaka whips her

Two tennis prodigies Coco Gauff, 15 years-old and Naomi Osaka,21, the world number one and defending champion faced off at the US Open in New York for the first time in a historic match on Saturday night. There had been so much hype around the game and the Arthur Ashe Stadium was filled to the rafters.

But it ended a mismatch as Osaka walloped her younger opponent 6-3 6-0, leaving her miserable and bursting into tears at the Arthur Ashe Stadium during the third round of the U.S. Open.

Naomi even tried to console her, to no avail. She invited her, all the same to do a joint interview.

To be sure, Coco had hoped to perform better than the scoreline showed. In her first Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon, she surpassed expectations and reached the 4th round, her first casualty being Venus Williams, one of the tennis stars who inspire her.

She hoped for a repeat in New York.

But it was not to be as she faced a more formidable, experienced opponent, six years her senior.

In the first set, Coco showed glimpses of the quality that has shot her into limelight, as a budding tennis phenomenon, breaking Osaka twice, just like Osaka also broke her to seize the first set 6-3.

But Coco’s game collapsed totally in set two. Most times, she just could not serve well as she notched, one double fault after another. At the end, she got a bagel out of the set.

Amidst inconsolable tears, the young American said she would ‘learn a lot’ from defeat to the world No. 1.

Gauff was effusive in her praise of Osaka afterwards, telling reporters: “I think she just proved that she’s a true athlete.

“For me the definition of an athlete is someone who on the court treats you like your worst enemy but off the court can be your best friend. I think that’s what she did tonight.

“I definitely was wanting to leave the court because I’m not the type of person who wants to cry in front of everyone. I didn’t want to take that moment away from her, as well.

“She told me it’s better than crying in the shower. She convinced me, like, multiple times to stay. I kept saying no. Finally I said, Okay, I’ll do it. Because I didn’t know what to do.

“I’m happy that she kind of convinced me to do it because, I mean, I’m not used to crying in front of everyone.

“But I think she really showed sportsmanship tonight. I mean, I wasn’t expecting it. I’m glad that I was able to experience that moment. I’m glad the crowd was kind of helping me and her.

“She was crying, she won. I was crying. Everybody was crying. But I think it was a good moment for both of us.

“I’m glad that I was able to express that moment. I guess it shows that I’m human. I guess athletes in general just experience things, and we show emotion, good and bad.

“I’m glad I was able to experience that on the biggest stage. Maybe next time I’ll have a different result. I really thank Naomi for that because it was a good moment for me.”

Gauff expects the experience of a heavy defeat to be beneficial as she plots a route to reaching the same heights as two-time grand slam champion Osaka.

“I think I’ll learn a lot from this match. She’s the number one player in the world right now, so I know what I need to do to get to that level,” Gauff added.

“She was really attacking the ball well. She hit a lot of winners today. I didn’t hit as many as I can. I think that I can trust my strokes more.

“I think she trusts her strokes a lot, so that’s why she hits winners. In order to hit a winner, you have to trust that you’re going to do it. I think I can work on that more.

“Other than that, I mean, I think my first serve, I could get it in more today. I was having trouble holding serve. I think once I get past that hump, I’ll start to improve a lot more.”

Victorious Osaka explained why she asked the reluctant Gauff to join her with the microphone as they met at the net.

“It was kind of instinctive because when I shook her hand, I saw that she was kind of tearing up a little. Then it reminded me how young she was,” Osaka said.

“I wanted her to have her head high, not walk off the court sad. I want her to, like, be aware that she’s accomplished so much and she’s still so young.”

She added: “I was just thinking it would be nice for her to address the people that came and watched her play. They were cheering for her.”