Interesting matchup

NEW YORK—American teen sensation Coco Gauff and top-ranked defending champion Naomi Osaka will meet in a third-round showdown on Saturday at the US Open, each curious to test her game against the other.

Japanese 21-year-old Osaka dispatched Poland’s Magda Linette, 6-2, 6-4, while the 15-year-old Gauff outlasted Hungarian qualifier Timea Babos, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4.

“We’re both pretty young but I’m a little bit newer to the game,” Gauff said. “So I’m just curious to see how my game matches up against her.

“Obviously I want to win. I just want to enjoy it, have fun, enjoy the battle. We’ll see how it goes.”

Osaka, also the reigning Australian Open champion, wants a first-hand look at the teen sensation who beat Venus Williams in her Grand Slam debut on her way to the fourth round last month at Wimbledon before losing to eventual champion Simona Halep.

“When I hear people talking about someone, I want to have the opportunity to play them just to assess it for myself,” Osaka said.

Meanwhile, Rafael Nadal’s title path eased further as he received a walkover into the third round even as reigning Wimbledon champion Halep crashed out early for a third year running.

The Spanish 18-time Grand Slam winner advanced without striking a ball when injury-plagued Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis pulled out of their scheduled evening clash at Arthur Ashe Stadium with a right shoulder problem.

American Taylor Townsend sent Halep packing with a 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) win.

Nadal, the US Open champion in 2010, 2013 and 2017, will meet South Korean qualifier Chung Hyeon or Spanish 32nd seed Fernando Verdasco for a spot in the last 16.

His path to a fourth title, already helped with “Big Three” rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer on the opposite side of the draw, cleared further having already seen four top-10 rivals.

On Friday, Djokovic will look to keep a recent shoulder injury at bay as he resumes his title defense in the third round, while Serena Williams will look to take another step closer to a record-tying 24th rand Slam title.

Djokovic will conclude the evening session inside Arthur Ashe Stadium when he faces American Denis Kudla in a rematch of their second-round Wimbledon meeting, which the Serbian won in straight sets.

Federer will try to avoid another slow start when he kicks off the day session on Arthur Ashe against Briton Dan Evans and will be followed on the court by six-time champion Serena Williams, who battles Karolina Muchova for the first time in her career. —AFP