Another Sensation at the US Open, Naomi Osaka Eliminated !

Naomi Osaka gave up here US Open title today, after losing to Belinda Bencic in the round of 16 at Flushing Meadows. The world No.1 lost to Bnecic in straight sets, 5-7, 4-6.

It is one of the biggest upsets in this year’s competition, and following Novak Djokovic’s exit last night, the ladies part of the tournament also lost its champion.

Osaka lost after 17 consecutive victories on a hard surface. It appears that the young Japanese doesn’t like to play against Bencic who defeated her for the third time in a row.

“I was so excited to come on the court, the challenge cannot be bigger – Naomi Osaka is a great player and won the US Open last year,” said Bencic. “I had to be on top of my game and am really pleased with how I played.

Previously, Bencic eliminated Osaka in Indian Wells and Madrid.

The 22-year old Swiss opened the match much better, and immediately took Osaka’s serve. She was near taking the second one, but the Japanese saved two break points and avoided a complete catastrophe right at the start.

Osaka responded after a slow start, making a break of her own, but eventually, Bencic had more composure and strength in the finish of the first set, and she outplayed the champion in the 11th game, to clinch that part of the clash.

The second set was leveled until the 10th game, when Bencic had a little show, with her two beautiful points, which totally shook Osaka’s morale. In the end, the no.1 seed made a double-fault which handed the Swiss one more break. She would keep that edge until the end, posting one big sensation in New York.

It was interesting that Osaka had 10 aces in this event, while Bencic had zero. But the Swiss recorded 14 winners in the second set, and that pretty much decided the result.

Bencic stated after the match that she had to implement a lot of strategy in today’s performance. Osaka’s style of play relies upon powerful strikes, and Bencic had to calm down the opponent, with using a strict game plan.

“She has a lot of power; I was just trying to play it a little bit like chess, anticipate and make a tactic on the court.”

This loss means that Osaka won’t be the world’s number 1 anymore. That place will go to Ash Barty from next Monday. But that is something which sure won’t affect the talented Japanese as this failure. She was on her way towards the second straight title here and surely didn’t expect to finish her participation this early.

Belinda Bencic will face Donna Vekic in the quarterfinals, and try to reach her career-best here in New York.

The Croatian player eliminated Julia Gorges 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-3, entering the quarterfinals for the first time. The 23-year old Vekic was on the verge of defeat against the German who served for the match and had a match point at one moment. But the lack of composure and mental stability cost Gorges a win here. She had three double faults and several big-time mistakes which brought Vekic back to life.

“She was serving for the match, had match points, but I just kept fighting and believing I could win,” said Vekic. “I was just trying to get a return in the court, she was serving amazing, but I felt confident in the rallies.”

The US Open enters the final phase of the competition with quarterfinals ahead of us in both categories. Right now, the highest seed among the ladies is Elina Svitolin, the No.5 and it appears that this might be one of the most exciting tournaments in the past several years.