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Naomi Osaka’s time at the U.S. Open is over after the second round.
The star lost to Karolina Muchova in straight sets, 6-3, 7-6 at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday. Muchova, who reached the semifinal at the U.S. Open a year ago, now has plenty of momentum after a big win over Osaka, and she’ll look to capitalize on it in the third round.
After Osaka’s loss, an updated bracket for the women’s singles can be found here.
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Womens’ draw at the US Open ????
Projected quarter-finals:
Swiatek vs Pegula
Rybakina vs Paolini
Krejcikova vs Gauff
Zheng vs Sabalenka pic.twitter.com/Azu8MBIRuM
Muchova got off to a dominant start in the first set, controlling things with her forehand and looking well on her way to an easy win. Osaka quickly stormed back, however, gaining a 40-love lead in the second set.
She gave up that lead after a slew of errors and misfires, allowing Muchova room to rally. Osaka had five forehand errors and a double fault after her strong start to the second set, and that was enough for Muchova to avoid a third set and advance.
Osaka looked strong in her upset win over No. 10 seed Jelena Ostapenko in the first round, but only had moments of her former world No. 1 ranked self on Thursday. The 26-year-old is still gaining her footing after a year-and-a-half-long hiatus, and she’ll look to build off of her U.S. Open appearance moving forward.
Muchova will now face Anastasia Potapova in the third round on Friday. While Muchova is currently ranked 52nd, she looked more than capable of becoming a U.S. Open finalist once again, and she’ll look to capitalize off of the momentum of a win over a crowd favorite in Round 3.
Still in the mix at the U.S. Open this week is world No. 1 Iga Świątek, who had a dominant win in the second round and will now face 25th-ranked Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Round 3. Świątek, who won the U.S. Open in 2022, lost in the fourth round last year to Jelena Ostapenko in a match that ended her time as the No. 1 player in the world for the time being.
Fan-favorite Coco Gauff is looking to defend her U.S. Open title after beating Tatjana Maria in the second round, and she’ll now face Elina Svitolina in Roud 3.
