NEW YORK _ Naomi Osaka's attempt to win a second straight championship at the U.S. Open was thwarted on Monday when Belinda Bencic of Switzerland outplayed her at crucial moments and wrested a 7-5, 6-4 victory from the world's No. 1 player in a fourth-round match played at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
It was the second straight day that the defending champion here was eliminated by a Swiss opponent. On Sunday, 2018 men's champion Novak Djokovic retired from his fourth-round match against Stan Wawrinka because of an injured left shoulder.
It was the fourth time that Bencic, the No. 13 seed here, had defeated Osaka in their five career matchups. This year, Bencic stopped her in the quarterfinals of a tournament at Madrid and ended Osaka's attempt to defend her Indian Wells title with a straight-sets win in the round of 16.
Bencic said she tried to take Osaka's serves early and try to anticipate Osaka's powerful shots. "I'm not the player who has the most aces or winners," Bencic said in an on-court interview. "I try to make it like chess... I had to be on top of my game."
Osaka, born in Japan to a Japanese mother and Haitian father, spent some of her younger years in New York and was the crowd favorite. However, she didn't seem to be moving well _ she has worn a wrap on her sore left knee throughout the tournament _ and Bencic was the more forceful and better player in a match played under a closed roof.
Things went badly for Osaka from the outset. Bencic broke Osaka's serve in the first game of the first set and pushed Osaka by gaining four break points in the third game. Osaka held and then broke for 2-2. Bencic pulled ahead at 6-5 with an excellent backhand passing shot and won the first set on her second opportunity, when Osaka hit a return into the net.
The second set went according to serve until the fifth game, when Bencic broke Osaka's serve. A backhander gave Bencic the break point and Osaka handed her the game with a double fault. Bencic closed it out on her first match point, on a backhand unforced error by Osaka.
Osaka committed three double faults and 21 unforced errors. Bencic had 29 winners, to 26 for Osaka.
Although Osaka lost, she will be remembered for her kind gesture toward 15-year-old Coco Gauff in the third round. Aware that Gauff was despondent after losing, Osaka invited her to stay on the court and share the customary winner's post-match interview so Gauff could thank the many fans who had cheered for her. "Naomi did what a true champion would do," Bencic said Monday.
But she won't be champion this year.
Bencic's quarterfinal opponent will be No. 23 Donna Vekic of Croatia, who came back to defeat No. 26 Julia Goerges of Germany, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-3.
