NEW YORK — Naomi Osaka and Iga Swiatek rolled into the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open, showing off what once made each of them the top-ranked women’s tennis player in the world.
Osaka dominated Coco Gauff 6-3, 6-2 in their highly anticipated showdown Monday in Arthur Ashe Stadium. Swiatek rallied from down 3-1 in the first set to beat Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-3, 6-1.
“At the beginning, I felt like she was playing really fast,” said Swiatek, who is seeking her second U.S. Open title and seventh in a Grand Slam. “I wanted to find my rhythm, but later on I really felt like I was in my bubble and in my zone.”
Osaka, in the quarterfinals at a major for the first time since 2021, will face either No. 11 Karolina Muchova or No. 27 Marta Kostyuk for a spot in the semifinals. Up next for Swiatek is either American Amanda Anisimova or Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil.
“The girls play late, so there’s no point now for me to overthink who I’m going to play,” Swiatek said. “I’m just going to see who wins, and that’s it. I’ll prepare.”
On the men’s side, 25th-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime advanced by defeating Andrey Rublev 7-5, 6-3, 6-4 in a match in Arthur Ashe Stadium that took just over two hours.
Auger-Aliassime won for just the second time in nine career matches against Rublev, the No. 15 seed who slammed his racket after losing a point in the second set.
“As I won the first set, I felt like I was in control of the match,” said Auger-Aliassime, who at age 25 is in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the fourth time. ”Good win considering our head-to-head, considering how good he is as a player.”
Eighth-seeded Australian Alex de Minaur beat qualifier Leandro Riedi 6-3, 6-2, 6-1. He’s set to play Auger-Aliassime next. Top-ranked Jannik Sinner was set to face Alexander Bublik in the night session.
Second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz faces Jiri Lehecka in one men’s quarterfinal. It’s American Taylor Fritz against four-time U.S. Open champion Novak Djokovic in the other, with the winners meeting in the semifinals Friday. In the women’s quarterfinals, Jessica Pegula plays Barbora Krejcikova, and top-seeded Aryna Sabalenka goes up against Marketa Vondrousova.
The hat came back: A story that got as much attention as any of the action on the court this week took an unexpected turn on Monday.
A man who took tennis player Kamil Majchrzak’s hat from a young fan at the U.S. Open apologized on social media and said he has returned it.
Piotr Szczerek posted an apology on social media Monday after video of the incident went viral over the weekend. The broadcast showed Szczerek grabbing Majchrzak’s hat from a boy after the player’s singles match against Karen Khachanov.
Szczerek, who is from Poland, wrote on Facebook that he made a mistake thinking Majchrzak was giving him the hat for his sons, who had asked earlier for an autograph. In the post, he said he had apologized personally.
Majchrzak said on social media that he reached out to the boy’s family and met with him to give him a new hat and take photos with him.
The 29-year-old, who is also from Poland, retired from his match Saturday because of an undisclosed injury.
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