Defending Champion and World Number 1 Naomi Osaka of Japan lost to 13th seed Belinda Bencic of Switzerland 7-5, 6-4 on Monday afteron in Arthur Ashe Stium. After an emotional win over 15-year-old Coco Gauff in third round, Osaka struggled to face Bencic's service games. Bencic, who has been mentored by Swiss legends Roger Federer and Martina Hingis, showed that she is a big-match player and will continue to play for million-dollar prize money that goes to winner. She will next face Donna Vekic of Croatia.

Osaka Kcked Out

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Osaka h me her breakthrough at Flushing Meows a year ago, winning her first major championship by beating Serena Williams. She went on to win her second consecutive Grand Slam trophy at Australian Open in January. That allowed her to become first tennis player representing Japan to reach number 1 in rankings. "Right w I have this feeling of sness, but I also feel like I have learned so much during this tournament," Osaka explained after her loss. "Of course I wanted to defend this tournament. But I feel like steps that I have taken as a person has been much greater than I would imagine at this point. So I hope that I can keep growing. I kw that if I keep working hard, n, of course, I'll have better results."

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Looking forward Osaka's next big event will be a long-awaited return to her birthplace, city of Osaka, Japan, which hosts this year's Toray Pan Pacific Open, a Premier event. Last season, Osaka followed up her US Open win by making final on home soil. "Honestly, I'm t that m at this," Osaka said. "Of course I can look at this and be very disappointed and m, but I'm t m at it. Of course, I would like to reach higher, like, rounds. That's definitely what I'll aim for in Australia." Osaka said. "I don't feel like I put so much weight on one single match," she explained. "As a whole, I want to see that I played better matches in summer. Because I feel like definitely tournament that I played here has been best one so far."

Bencic’s second trip to  US Open quarterfinals

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"I was so excited to come on court," Bencic said on court. "I think challenge cant be bigger against Naomi. She's a great player and obviously, she won U.S. Open last year, so I h to be at top of my game, so I'm really pleased with how I played and how I mand my nerves at end." Swiss player's first of three wins over Osaka this season came at same st of Indian Wells in March. "I just came with same mentality as I played her before," she explained. "I just really focused on game and t about hype or occasion, stium and round. After match, it feels definitely different. It feels like this was most important one," she said.

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