Defending Australian Open champion Naomi Osaka knocked out by Coco Gauff

Defending champion Naomi Osaka was knocked out of the Australian Open on Friday, falling 6-3 6-4 in a stunning upset by American teenage sensation Coco Gauff in the third round. Osaka was the third former Open winner to bow out of the draw after Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki, who won the title in 2017 and 2018, lost their respective matches at Melbourne Park earlier in the day.

Melbourne: American teenage sensation Coco Gauff continued her dream run at the Australian Open on Friday when the 15-year-old knocked out defending champion Naomi Osaka 6-3 6-4 in a stunning upset to reach the fourth round. Osaka was the third former women`s champion to bow out at Melbourne Park on Friday after her immediate predecessors Caroline Wozniacki and Serena Williams lost their respective matches earlier in the day.

Gauff, on her Australian Open debut, beat seven-times Grand Slam champion Venus Williams in the first round and will next face either China`s Zhang Shuai or American 14th seed Sofia Kenin for a place in the quarter-finals. "Honestly, what is my life like? Two years ago, I lost in the first round of juniors, and now I`m here, this is crazy," Gauff told the crowd on Rod Laver Arena.

Gauff had lost to Osaka 6-3 6-0 at the US Open 2019 but easily avoided a repeat as a string of backhand errors off the Japanese third seed`s racket gave the 15-year-old the break midway through the opening set. The pattern repeated itself in the second set, as a lacklustre Osaka continued to misfire and Gauff served out the victory after just 67 minutes on court.

She let out a huge roar in the direction of the players` box before heading to the net to receive the congratulations of the vanquished champion, who not so long ago was hailed as the future of women`s tennis.

That title might soon sit on Gauff`s shoulders but tennis is not the only thing on the teenager`s mind with her remote schooling continuing throughout her travels. "My teachers are giving me some time, given the circumstances," she said. "I`m allowed to put in some assignments late, which is nice."

Serena Williams out

“I can’t play like that,” said a downcast Serena Williams, lamenting her third round upset by rank outsider Wang Qiang at the Australian Open on Friday but declared her bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title would go on.

The seven-times Melbourne champion stumbled to her earliest exit at the tournament in 14 years with an error-strewn 6-4 6-7(2) 7-5 loss to 27th seed Wang that raised queries about her hopes of chasing down Margaret Court’s record major titles.

The stunning defeat at Rod Laver Arena came less than four months after Williams trounced Wang 6-1 6-0 in the US Open quarter-finals. “Honestly, if we were just honest with ourselves, it’s all on my shoulders. I lost that match. So it is what it is,” Williams told reporters after racking up 56 unforced errors next to 43 winners. “Like I said, it’s not about the tournament, it’s just like I can’t play like that. Like, I literally can’t do that again. That’s unprofessional. It’s not cool.”

While Williams struggled to hit her targets throughout, her fighting spirit was never in doubt as she staved off a quicker defeat in the second set by breaking Wang as she served for the match at 5-4.