Naomi Osaka and Cori Gauff seemed to be destined to have similar careers. However, something different is happening.
The Japanese sensation has already won 4 majors, but she does not seem to be very committed to the sport. Naomi is notoriously not very keen on playing during the clay-court season and she keeps on skipping the grass season for different reasons. Last year, her season was badly affected by mental health issues. This year, Osaka has played only 23 matches with a not-so-great 14-9 win-loss record. The last time that Naomi went beyond the second round was in Miami (she was the runner-up) and that was more than 6 months ago. Naomi has played only one game at the recent WTA event in Tokyo. She won the first round after Anastasia Potapova withdrew after one game. Osaka conceded a walkover to Maria Haddad in the following round. Curiously, Naomi is not scheduled to play in any tournament for the rest of the season.
Naomi is currently enjoying her time in Paris.
Coco Gauff
The young American seems to be hungry for more and more tennis. She is currently competing in San Diego and she will also play in Guadalajara the following week. As of now, Coco has played more than 50 matches this year.
Naomi Osaka in 2022
At the moment ranked no.44, Naomi played her last match on the 20th of September when she had to retire when playing against world no.54 Daria Gavrilova in the 1st
round and the scoreline was 1-0 .At present, during this year Osaka has managed to achieve an overall 14-9 match record. Naomi Osaka’s most significant accomplishment of the present year was getting to the final in Miami.
Cori Gauff in 2022
Ranked no.8 (career-high), Coco played her last match on the 6th of September when she was defeated by world no.10 Caroline Garcia 6-3 6-4 in the quarter of the U.S. Open (draw).
At present, during this year Coco has a compiled 34-17 win-loss record. Cori Gauff’s most significant result of the current year was getting to the final at the French Open.
Gauff has scheduled to play next in Guadalajara (Guadalajara Open Akron). She will start the tournament from the main draw on the 17th of October.
Naomi Osaka and Cori Gauff squared off 4 times. Their head to head is 2-2. Previously, the last time they fought against each other, Cori Gauff won 6-4 6-4 in the 2nd round in San Jose (Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic) on the 4th of August 2022.
[Here are the highlights].