Naomi Osaka is on court now. She is playing No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina in the US Open fourth round on Louis Armstrong Stadium, a match that got underway around 3:15 p.m. ET on Monday after two matches ahead of it. If she wins, her next opponent is already decided: Zheng Qinwen, in Wednesday’s quarterfinal.
| Round | Opponent | When |
|---|---|---|
| Fourth round | [2] Elena Rybakina | Monday, Sept. 7, in progress |
| Quarterfinal | Zheng Qinwen, who beat Iga Swiatek earlier Monday | Wednesday, Sept. 9 |
| Semifinal | Coco Gauff, Iva Jovic, Mirra Andreeva or a qualifier from that quarter | Thursday, Sept. 11 |
| Final | From the Sabalenka, Noskova, Pegula and Navarro half | Saturday, Sept. 12 |
The Match She Is Playing Right Now
Osaka against Rybakina was scheduled not before 2:30 p.m. ET and went on around 3:15 once the two matches ahead of it on Armstrong cleared. It is on ESPN, and every court streams in the ESPN app for anyone with an ESPN Unlimited plan.
Rybakina leads the head to head 1-0, from a Toronto quarterfinal in August that she won 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 after going down a set and a break. She has not dropped a set in New York and is the reigning Australian Open champion. Osaka has needed three sets in each of her last two rounds and is 2-7 against top 10 players over the past 12 months.
There is a ranking layer to it as well. If Rybakina reaches the semifinals she becomes world No. 1 for the first time, regardless of what anyone else does, which means Osaka is effectively playing to stop that too.
Her Next Opponent Is Already Known
Whoever comes through Monday plays Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, September 9. Zheng took out Iga Swiatek earlier in the day, which removed the biggest name from that quarter and is the reason this side of the draw suddenly looks navigable.
Zheng also beat Madison Keys in the third round, 1-6, 7-6(3), 7-5, after trailing 5-0 in the deciding set. She is playing the best tennis of anyone left in the bottom half on current form.
How Osaka Got Here
| First round | d. Anastasia Zakharova 7-6(6), 7-6 |
| Second round | d. Katerina Siniakova 6-2, 5-7, 6-1 |
| Third round | d. Elise Mertens 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in 2 hours 38 minutes |
The Mertens match was the hard one. Osaka had three match points slip away before closing it, took treatment from the trainer at the third set changeover for an Achilles problem that has been with her since the grass court season, and celebrated the finish like someone who had survived rather than won.
She is seeded 13th, ranked 13th, and 28-10 on the season. She is a two time champion at this tournament, in 2018 and 2020, and a four time major winner overall.
If She Loses Today
Then the US Open is her last match of the tournament and her season continues on the Asian swing, where she has historically played well. This page updates with her result and next opponent as soon as the fourth round finishes.
The Bottom Line
Naomi Osaka plays Elena Rybakina right now, Monday afternoon on Louis Armstrong Stadium, live on ESPN. Win and her next match is Zheng Qinwen in Wednesday’s quarterfinal. Lose and that is the tournament.