BOMBSHELL: Naomi Osaka Announces great lost
Fourth seed Coco Gauff is through to the quarter-finals of the China Open after Japan’s Naomi Osaka was forced to retire injured in their last-16 match.
The match was level at one set all when Osaka, who appeared to be struggling throughout, had to withdraw because of a lower back injury.
“It was a good match up to this point,” Gauff said. “I wish Naomi a speedy recovery. Nobody wants to win a match like this, especially at one set all.”
Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka had to call for the physio during the first set but battled through, breaking Gauff for a third time before serving out to take it 6-3.
But American Gauff, who won her first major at last year’s US Open, hit back and broke at the first opportunity in the second.
Osaka responded immediately and even earned a break advantage, only for Gauff to come storming back and break twice in winning three straight games to secure a fiercely contested set 6-4.
There was to be no deciding set as Osaka had to retire but there was a moment of great sportsmanship at the end as Gauff carried her ailing opponent’s bag off court for her.
Gauff will face Ukraine’s Yulia Starodubtsewa in the last eight.
Badosa shocks second seed Pegula
US Open finalist Jessica Pegula is out after a last-16 defeat by Spain’s Paula Badosa.
The American world number three, seeded second in Beijing, lost 6-4 6-0 in just over an hour.
An early break saw Badosa go 3-1 down in the opening set, but the Spaniard won 11 of the next 12 games – including eight in a row – to secure her first win over a top-five player since 2022.
“She’s one the of the players I never want to face,” said world number 19 Badosa.
“She’s very solid, hits very flat, changes direction very well, so I knew it was going to be tough.
“Yesterday I prepared myself for a battle, but I think today everything worked pretty well.”
She will meet Zhang Shuai in the quarter-finals after the world number 595 continued her remarkable run at the tournament with a 6-4 6-2 win over Poland’s Magdalena Frech.
Zhang went into her home event on the back of 24 successive defeats spanning more than 600 days, the second-longest run on the WTA Tour in the open era, which began in 1968 when professionals were finally allowed to play in Grand Slam tournaments.
The two-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist, whose career has been plagued by injuries, is also the lowest-ranked player to ever compete in the main draw of the China Open – a WTA 1000 event.
But the 35-year-old has now won four matches in Beijing without dropping a set, including a second-round win over US Open semi-finalist Emma Navarro.
Naomi Osaka-Produced Tennis Drama ‘Julie Keeps Quiet,’ Belgium’s Oscar Entry, Gets North American Deal With Film Movement (EXCLUSIVE)
Film Movement has bought North American rights to Belgium Oscar entry “Julie Keeps Quiet” which is executive produced by tennis champion Naomi Osaka, and world premiered at Cannes’ Critics Week.
A feature debut directed by Leonardo Van Dijl, “Julie Keeps Quiet” went on to play Karlovy Vary and Toronto, and will next screen at the BFI London Film Festival following its Cannes bow. The movie will have its U.S. premiere at the Hamptons Film Festival.
The drama stars newcomer Tessa Van den Broeck as Julie, a young and promising tennis player who faces a dilemma when her prominent coach is suspended after the suicide of a former prodigy. Suspicions of inappropriate conduct arise and pressure starts mounting for Julie to speak up. As she refrains from sharing her experiences, her silence leaves the investigation and the coach’s future in limbo.
Julie Keeps Quiet” is slated for a theatrical release in early 2025 and will be followed by a roll out on all leading digital platforms and home entertainment. The announcement was made by Michael Rosenberg, president of Film Movement and Jan Naszewski, CEO of Warsaw-based New Europe Film Sales.
“Leo (Van Dijl) is a very talented young director who puts a societal, hot-button topic under the microscope in a powerful first feature,” said Rosenberg. “From its extraordinary camera work and perceptive screenplay to the impressive debut performance from Tessa Van den Broeck, it’s an undeniable and thought-provoking film.”
Penned by van Dijl and Ruth Becquart, “Julie Keeps Quiet” is produced by Gilles De Schryver, Gilles Coulier, Wouter Sap, Roxanne Sarkozi at De Wereldvrede, co-produced by Delphine Tomson, Luc Dardenne, Jean-Pierre Dardenne at Les Films du Fleuve, Nima Yousefi at Hobab, Kristina Börjeson, Anthony Muir at Film i Vast, and executive produced by Osaka, Hana Kuma at Stuart Duguid, and Federica Sainte-Rose and Florian Zeller at Blue Morning Pictures. Van Dijl is repped by 2AM, Ken Lambrechts, CAA and Granderson Des Rochers.
Film Movement’s recent acquisitions include “An Unfinished Film” directed by Lou Ye, which recently had its North American premiere in the Centrepiece program at Toronto, as well as Hiroshi Okuyama’s “My Sunshine” which played at Cannes’ Un Certain Regard.
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