China Open: Osaka to meet Gauff in round 16 after easing past Volynets

Naomi Osaka of Japan swept into the Round of 16 at the China Open with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Katie Volynets of the United States on Monday.

The third-round match was postponed one day due to rain, but the overnight delay did not hinder Osaka one bit. Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka won her first meeting with World No.60 Volynets in 1 hour and 17 minutes of play.

“For me, I wanted to keep growing from my last match,” Osaka said afterwards. “I was just trying to be really aggressive from the beginning. … I felt like I really shouldn’t care too much about my unforced errors rather than just keeping her on the move.”

“I think it’s going to be a really cool test for me,” Osaka said, looking ahead to facing Gauff. “She’s played really well this year. … I’m excited to play the match, and I know people are excited to watch the match.”

This is Osaka’s first Beijing appearance since she won the China Open title in 2019. The only former champion to contest this fortnight’s main draw, Osaka has an outstanding 13-2 career win-loss record at the event.

“I think it helps that when I first got here, people said that I was on a winning streak, even though it was from years ago,” Osaka said. “I find it’s kind of like faking it until you make it. But also I realized that I am playing better throughout the year.”

With the win, Osaka set up a marquee fourth-round showdown against No.4 seed Coco Gauff, which will take place on Tuesday. It will be the first meeting between the two Grand Slam champions in over two years.

Osaka and Gauff have evenly split their four previous meetings, alternating victories each year between 2019 and 2022. Gauff won their most recent encounter at San Jose in August 2022 by a 6-4, 6-4 scoreline.