US Open news: Naomi Osaka addresses retirement fears as Fritz makes Djokovic statement

Coco Gauff admitted she "broke down" after suffering a brusing 6-3 6-2 defeat to Naomi Osaka.

The No. 3 seed hit 33 unforced errors during the 64-minute contest, and then let her emotions show when she left the court. But her team helped her find perspective on her run at this year's US Open.

“After the match, I was really disappointed. Kind of broke down to my team,” Gauff explained.

“Then hearing their perspectives and everything, it definitely is a lot of positive things. I think if I kept the way I was going in Cincinnati to here, I would have been out in the first round. So I think where my serve started from the start of the tournament to today was a big improvement.”

It’s been a long road back to the top for Naomi Osaka. Now through to the quarters in New York, this is her first time in the second week of a Major tournament since 2021. The former world No. 1 took a 16-month pregnancy break and returned to competition in January 2024, but her comeback has gained real momentum in the last few weeks.

At times during her comeback, the four-time Major winner seemed close to giving up when results didn’t go her way. But the No. 23 seed now says she likely wouldn’t have retired, because it would be “scary” to quit tennis for good.

“Honestly, [I was] not close at all. I don't know if that means, like, I like pain or something, but no,” she laughed.

“It's one thing to say it, but I think to actually do it, to hang up my racket for me permanently would be a very scary thing. I've been playing this sport since I was three. I tell people it's like breathing air to me. I wouldn't really know what to do.

“Granted, I'm really grateful to be here now, and the thought of not playing any time soon is something that hasn't crossed my mind, so…”

For every match she's played at the US Open so far, Naomi Osaka has walked onto the court with a custom bedazzled Labubu.

First, there was Billie Jean Bling. Then came Arthur Flashe. Then another BJK-inspired icon, La-Billie-bu, appeared in the third round.

And Osaka brought new new Labubu, Althea Glitterson, onto the court and into her post-match press conference after beating Coco Gauff.

Naomi Osaka stormed past Coco Gauff 6-3 6-2 to reach her third quarter-final at the US Open.

It was a crushing loss for Gauff, who hit 33 unforced errors. Osaka needed just 64 minutes to get the job done, and never even faced a break point.

The former world No. 1 then paid a touching tribute to her young rival, telling the crowd: "Honestly, I look up to her a lot.

"I think the way that she conducts herself - I hope that’s the right word, conduct! - I think it’s really special and I feel like to be such an amazing role model at such a young age is a gift and it’s a talent that she has and I have all the respect in the world for her."

Lorenzo Musetti is through to his Grand Slam quarter-final on a hard court.

The No. 10 seed thrashed Jaume Munar 6-3 6-0 6-1 and told the crowd: "I'm a little bit emotional right now because, honestly, the last month has been terrible. I was sad about my tennis, my game, my results."

Musetti was on a tear during the clay-court swing and reached the French Open semis, taking the first set against Carlos Alcaraz. But he got injured and retired while trailing in set four.

He's since struggled for form, but he's now into the last eight in Flushing Meadows for the first time.

It was the mouthwatering match-up everyone wanted to see. Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff faced off for the sixth time in their careers, six years after their first-ever meeting here back in 2019.

Four-time Major winner Osaka - who had not reached the second week of a Slam since 2021 - was the underdog.

But she needed just 64 minutes to stun the No. 3 seed 6-3 6-2.

Iga Swiatek defeated Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3 6-1, and then whipped out her phone as she walked up for her on-court interview.

After spending just 61 minutes on court, the former US Open explained that she wanted extra time on the practice court.

“Iga, we are about to talk about this match you played, but first, do you have any interest in telling us who that text message was going to?” the former champion was asked.

Laughing, she replied: “Oh, just my coach! Yeah, I asked him to book, like, 10 minutes of a practice court if it’s possible.”

The blockbuster Naomi Osaka vs Coco Gauff fourth-round match is underway, and it's two-time former champion Naomi Osaka who is primed to cause an upset.

The Japanese star has taken the first set 6-3, breaking the No. 3 seed twice. Gauff gave the set away on a double fault.

There are no serving struggles for Osaka - she's won 100 per cent of points on her first serve and 82 per cent on second serve.

Felix Auger-Aliassime is through to his fourth Grand Slam quarter-final. The world No. 27 is also due to marry his girlfriend, Nina Ghaibi, and he has a suit fitting booked for the day after the US Open finishes.

But the Canadian now says he'd postpone the fitting if he reached his first Major final in Flushing Meadows.

"You have a wedding coming up, you said you’re playing tennis so you’re not focused on the planning, but you did say that you have a suit fitting the day after the final here. That says to me that you think you could be the one lifting the trophy on Sunday. True or false, and why?" Blair Henley asked Auger-Aliassime during his on-court interview.

He replied: "Well, hopefully, that’s what I’m here for, right? So yeah, let’s go all the way but regardless of the final, like you said, I have a wedding coming up and I do have a fitting regardless if I’m in the finals or not. But we’ll see, if I make the final, maybe I’ll have to postpone the fitting as well."

World No. 2 Iga Swiatek has stormed into the quarter-finals of the US Open, needing just 64 minutes to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3 6-1.

After winning the Wimbledon title a few weeks ago, the Pole is still in contention to lift back-to-back Major trophies if she can go all the way here.

Felix Auger-Aliassime is back into the quarter-finals of the US Open, four years after he made it to his first and only Grand Slam semi-final here in Flushing Meadows.

The Canadian defeated Andrey Rublev 7-5 6-3 6-4 to advance to the last eight.

Auger-Aliassime was just 21 years old when he reached the semis a few years ago. Reflecting on that run, he said: "Thank you all for coming today, it’s my first time playing on Arthur Ashe in a few years.

"I think it feels even better than the first time. I think the first time, at 21, I was kind of on my way up.

"And then to have a few setbacks, injuries, struggles with confidence and then to come back in the second time in the quarter-finals here, it feels much better, it feels more deserved and I’m soaking in every moment here."

Andrey Rublev has reached out to friend and countryman Daniil Medvedev after the former US Open champion was fined around £31k after having a meltdown during his first-round exit.

The world No. 13 has since parted ways with his long-time coach, Gilles Cervara.

Rublev told Sky Sports: "I wrote him a message of support, he replied to me, and it’s something very personal, something that you cannot push, put pressure on the guy or push the guy.

"If you want to help, normally, they ask for help. If no one is asking for help, then it’s not help. It means that I’m lying myself and I want to be like a good guy, too good or too smart, so it’s not about helping if you’re trying to get inside someone’s life with your advice, this is not the right thing to do.

"So that’s it, I supported him with my message, he replied, ‘Thank you so much, good luck to you’ in a nice way, so everything is good. I hope he will take some rest, recover, and he will be ready for the China swing."

No. 8 seed Alex de Minaur blitzed his way into the US Open quarter-final, taking out Swiss qualifier Leandro Riedi 6-3 6-2 6-1 in just 93 minutes.

Afterwards, he told the Louis Armstrong Stadium crowd: "Super proud of what I'm doing and ultimately this is where I want to be. I want to be playing for the big titles, I want to be in contention.

"I'm putting myself in the right places. I've got another great opportunity coming up in the quarter-finals. I'm gonna go out there, have a swing and hopefully have some amazing crowd support like today."

Felix Auger-Aliassime stormed back to take the first set of his fourth-round match against Andrey Rublev on Arthur Ashe Stadium.

The Canadian won five of the last six games to take a 7-5 advantage.

Meanwhile, over on the Louis Armstrong Stadium, Alex de Minaur is a game away from beating qualifier Leandro Riedi.

Taylor Fritz will face Novak Djokovic in the US Open quarter-final on Tuesday.

The American has a losing 0-10 record against Djokovic, but the 24-time Major winner has suffered some uncharacteristic defeats this season, and it's been two years since he last won a Major title.

Although Djokovic now seems more beatable to some of his opponents, Fritz says he hasn't lost his "aura".

Last year's US Open runner-up explained: "I wouldn't say that the aura of Novak being Novak has worn off at all. No matter what, he's around, you're going to acknowledge the fact that it's Novak and he holds pretty much all the records in tennis. That's never going to change.

"But I think that, yeah, what's different is there's been some guys now that are coming up and able to beat him. I still think he's, when he shows up to the Slams obviously, he is playing as good of tennis as - I guess I haven't really played him enough, but, you know, I think the level is still as much there as it was before.

"I don't look at it like he's more vulnerable than before. I look at it as the same, but I also look it that I've improved a lot as a player."

A few weeks ago, Novak Djokovic shared his desire to have a long chat and "a margarita" with his greatest rivals, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, once he joined them in retirement.

After reaching the US Open quarter-final on Sunday night, the Serb said he had "a lot of questions" he wanted to ask his old foes.

“I mean, yeah, I'll probably start with, you know, how did they approach matches against me, like, what did they feel like they needed to do to win,” he explained.

“Where was I annoying? Just how would they train, how would they mentally prepare, like all of this, I'd love to pick their brains on that. That would be amazing. Let's see if it happens. We don't know.”

Two-time Major winner Barbora Krejcikova saved eight match points in a 99-minute second set to beat Taylor Townsend on Sunday, eventually winning 1-6 7-6(13) 6-3.

Explaining just how she saved the barrage of match points, the Czech star said: "Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't. Definitely at all those match points, I was just very, I mean, brave as well, but also lucky at certain points, because we had great rallies, and I was facing them when I was serving, then when I was returning.

"With all that, Taylor is a great player. She's playing some great tennis, she's serving really well, she can come to the net, she can do any magic she wants.

"So it was really tough to kind of know what is going to happen or what to expect. So basically I was just trying to put the ball on her side, in that space, and hoping that, yeah, I'm going to save it."

The head of a Polish paving company has issued an apology after being caught on video taking Kamil Majchrzak's cap. Majchrzak took off his cap and waved it towards a child in the crowd, before Piotr Szczerek snatched it away.

And after an online backlash, the CEO wrote on Facebook: “Due to the situation that happened during Kamil Majchrzak's match at the US Open, I would like to clearly apologise to the injured boy, his family, as well as all the fans and the player himself.

“I have made a huge mistake. In emotions, in the crowd rejoicing after the victory, I was convinced the tennis player tips his hat in my direction - to my sons who have asked for autographs earlier.

“The misconception caused me to pull out my hand. Today I know I did something that looked like a deliberate collection of the child's souvenir. This was not my intention, but it doesn't change the fact I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans.”

Jessica Pegula has credited a trip to an escape room for her strong run at the US Open. The American has progressed to the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows, despite arriving at the tournament off the back of a difficult spell of form.

Ahead of the tournament, Pegula left a practice session with Aryna Sabalenka for an evening out with friends.

And she explained: “I felt terrible coming into this tournament, honestly. [We] went and did an escape room with my friends and had, like, two drinks and [realised] I need to just chill and stop getting so frustrated and overthinking all these practices.”

US Open star Karolina Muchova was reduced to tears after spotting an ex-boyfriend in the stands during her second-round victory over Sorana Cirstea.

Muchova endured a difficult start against Cirstea as she fell 4-1 behind in the opening set. And the 29-year-old became visibly upset while serving in the sixth game of the match.

She then walked to the side of the court and gestured towards the crowd before wiping tears away from her face. The star eventually held serve, but was then spotted wiping her face with a towel.

And when asked about the incident after the match, she explained in her native Czech language: “Well, it wasn’t tennis-related. So l don’t really like talking about it, but opposite my bench, my ex-boyfriend sat down.

“He sometimes shows up at places where he shouldn’t be. That startled me a bit. I told him to leave, he didn’t, but later he did go. It was hard to focus in that moment.”

Emma Raducanu has offered her verdict on her summer after being dumped out of the US Open at the end of last week.

Last night, Raducanu shared a photo dump from her time in New York with her followers on Instagram.

The blockbuster star could be seen alongside friends, eating in restaurants and lying on a bed getting some well-earned rest.

And she captioned the post by writing: “A productive summer. Progress over perfection.”

US Open star Taylor Townsend was consoled by her son after blowing eight match points against Barbora Krejcikova.

Townsend had a string of opportunities to close out victory against the two-time Wimbledon champion but went on to lose an incredible second set tiebreak before succumbing to her opponent in the third set.

Discussing her interaction with her son after the match, the American explained: “I was in the cool-down area. And he was like, ‘Hey, mom, let’s work out together.’ And I’m like, ‘Sir, I just played three hours, I don’t want to work out.’ He’s like, ‘Let’s do some squats.’ I’m like, ‘I’m good.’

“So, you know, that’s the kid thing, where it’s just like, they have no idea. And I actually said it because I wanted to know what he was going to say.

“I was like, ‘Yeah [okay then].’ He was like, ‘Good job mom.’ I was like, ‘Thanks.’ I was like, ‘AJ I lost.’ He was like, ‘It’s okay.’ And I was like, ‘That’s the attitude.’ So I’m trying to embody that.”

Serena Williams pretended to be jealous while watching her sister Venus in doubles action at the US Open. Venus Williams has teamed up with Leylah Fernandez at Flushing Meadows, with the pair already winning two matches.

Serena took to TikTok and posted a video of herself jokingly rolling her eyes during the duo’s victory over Eri Hozumi and Ulrikke Eikeri.

And she wrote: “When you see your sister @Venus Williams has a new doubles partner @leylahanniefernandez and you are really happy she’s winning with someone else…”

US Open star Alexander Bublik has slammed doubles players ahead of his showdown with Jannik Sinner at Flushing Meadows.

Bublik, who will take on the Italian tomorrow, explained: “Sometimes doubles is boring, because in a way it’s not real tennis. It’s for those who can’t play singles. They play doubles and then move on to padel or pickleball.”

Elena Rybakina was shocked by Marketa Vondrousova at the US Open yesterday, just days after thrashing Emma Raducanu in the third round.

Vondrousova won the match 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 and will now face Aryna Sabalenka in the quarter-finals.

Novak Djokovic was given an injury scare during the early stages of his US Open victory over qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff.

The Serbian hit an angled volley while leading 4-0 in the opening set to move 30-0 ahead in the fifth game before feeling discomfort in his neck.

The 38-year-old grabbed his neck and turned his head in an attempt to ease the issue. But the problem plagued him for a while and he was forced to get treatment in his chair. He ultimately played through the pain to book his place in the quarter-finals.

Good morning and welcome to our US Open live blog. We’re approaching the business end of the tournament and the excitement is intensifying, so stick around throughout the day for all the latest news.