Coco Gauff carried Naomi Osaka’s bags off the court after the Japanese star withdrew due to a lower back injury sustained during their match at the China Open on Tuesday.

In the first meeting between the two Grand Slam champions in more than two years, Osaka trailed Gauff 6-3 and drew 4-3 before fading quickly, losing three games in a row, including two service games. dropping the second set and then retiring due to injury.

Gauff, a former US Open champion, will play at No. 115 Yulia Starodubtseva in the quarterfinals after the Ukrainian caused a surprise with a 7:5 and 6:0 win against Anna Kalinskaya.

“It was a good match up to that point. I wish Naomi a speedy recovery. Nobody wants to win a match like that. Especially not when there is only one sentence,” said 20-year-old Gauff.

“Overall I did my best. It wasn’t my best tennis. It was one of those games where you give your best at every point.”

It was an encouraging week for Osaka, playing her first tournament under new coach Patrick Mouratoglou, and she was the better player in most of the two sets in a highly anticipated fifth meeting between two of the WTA Tour’s biggest stars – and a first since 2022.

Gauff had just scored the one-set equalizer when Osaka, who received medical treatment at the start of the competition, shook her hand and called it a day.

Badosa defeats Pegula to reach the quarterfinals

Paula Badosa won 11 of the last 12 games, including eight straight to close the match, in a surprising 6-4, 6-0 win over US Open finalist Jessica Pegula to reach her eighth career quarterfinal at a WTA 1000 event.

After trailing 3-1 in the opening set, former world No. 2 Badosa dominated for her first win over third-seeded Pegula.

“She is one of the players I never want to play against – she is very solid, hits very flat, changes direction very well,” said Badosa, who previously lost 0-3 to Pegula. “I was preparing for a fight, but I think everything went pretty well.

“Every point was very important for me, especially against Jessica because she can come back at any time.”

Badosa will next face the 35-year-old Chinese veteran Zhang Shuaiwho continued their resurgence with a 6:4, 6:2 victory over Magdalena Frech from Poland.

Zhang has won four straight games after losing 24 in a row and is now in the quarterfinals for the first time since Tokyo in 2022.

“In this draw, everyone has a higher rank than me,” Zhang said. “Just go on the pitch, just play. So I don’t have to think about it and prepare much. I’m just going to focus on myself.”

What’s coming up on Sky Sports Tennis in October?

• Shanghai Masters – ATP 1000 (October 2-13)
• Wuhan Open – WTA 1000 (October 6-12 – Emma Raducanu in qualifying)
• Almaty Open, Kazakhstan – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
• Stockholm Open, Sweden – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
• European Open, Antwerp – ATP 250 (October 14-20)
• Japan Open, Osaka – WTA 250 (October 14-20)
• Ningbo Open, China – WTA 500 (October 14-20)
• Erste Bank Open, Vienna – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
• Swiss Indoors, Basel – ATP 500 (October 21-27)
• Guangzhou Open, China – WTA 250 (October 21-27)
• Toray Pan Pacific Open Tennis, Tokyo – WTA 500 (October 21-27)

Sky Sports+ has officially launched and will be integrated into Sky TV, the NOW streaming service and the Sky Sports app, giving Sky Sports customers access to over 50 percent more live sport at no additional cost this year. Find out more here.