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Coco Gauff Beats Timea Babos, Will Face No. 1 Naomi Osaka in US Open 3rd Round
August 30, 2019
Coco Gauff will continue her run at the 2019 U.S. Open in New York City after defeating Timea Babos 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 in their second-round match Thursday night.
Next up for the 15-year-old Florida native will be defending champion and world No. 1 Naomi Osaka. This is Gauff's first time participating in the tournament, and she became the youngest woman since 2014 to win a U.S. Open match by ousting Anastasia Potapova in the first round.
Gauff is now the youngest woman to advance to the third round at Flushing Meadows since Anna Kournikova made it to the fourth round as a 15-year-old in 1996 (h/t WTA Insider).
Following the match, Gauff spoke with Tom Rinaldi on the court. "I was tested a lot," she said on the ESPN broadcast. "I think we were both just testing each other, and maybe if I didn't win that last point, maybe she would've won the match. It's just that type of match where anyone could've won."
Gauff passed every test, especially in the third set in which she saved all four break points that she faced, but Osaka will be the toughest test she has faced in her young career. However, before she can think about that, she has to play doubles with 17-year-old Caty McNally against Julia Goerges and Katerina Siniakova on Friday.
Earlier Thursday, Osaka defeated Magda Linette 6-2, 6-4 with Kobe Bryant and Colin Kaepernick sitting in her player's box. Bryant gave Gauff a shoutout following her victory, too:
Last year, the 21-year-old defeated Serena Williams to claim the U.S. Open in a controversial match. Coincidentally, Gauff's most notable win to date came when she upset Venus Williams in the first round at Wimbledon last month.