Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, who won the US Open title in 2018 and 2020, will face No. 10 seed and former Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko in her first appearance at Flushing Meadows since becoming a mother. Meanwhile, defending champion Coco Gauff could face a rematch against Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals.

Osaka and Ostapenko have faced each other only once before, both when they were teenagers. It was in the opening round of the 2016 French Open, when unseeded Osaka, 19, defeated 32nd-seeded Ostapenko, 18, in straight sets (7-5, 6-4).

Although she hasn’t had the best performance leading up to the final Grand Slam tournament of the year, Ostapenko could likely take inspiration from her best performance at last year’s US Open, when she reached the quarterfinals, defeating then-defending champion Iga Swiatek on the way there. Osaka also hasn’t had the best performance at the two WTA 1000 hard court tournaments leading up to the US Open in Toronto and Cincinnati.

Gauff, who became the youngest American to win the singles title last year in New York when she defeated Sabalenka, could be on a collision course with the Belarusian, but not until the semifinals. Gauff will open her campaign against France’s Varvara Gracheva, while Sabalenka, who comes into the tournament on the back of a title win in Cincinnati, will face a qualifier in her opening match.

Gauff could face No. 27 seed Elina Svitolina in the third round, fellow American Emma Navarro, whom she beat at Wimbledon earlier last month, in the fourth round and reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the quarterfinals. Sabalenka’s first major threat on the way to a Gauff rematch is No. 29 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, whom she beat three times in her career, in the third round and one between No. 14 seed Madison Keys and No. 17 seed Ons Jabeur in the pre-quarterfinals.

More to follow …