Gauff cites upcoming opponent Osaka as "big inspiration"

A year or so ago, it would have been hard to believe that two of the biggeststarsintennis would be Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff.

But here we are, with Osaka a two-time Slam champion, Gauff already making good on her extraordinary hype and the two of them headlining Saturday's Arthur Ashe Stadium night session in the most anticipated match of the US Open's first week.

Their stars have risen independently of each other, with Osaka winning back-to-back majors, at the US Open and Australian Open, and Gauff becoming a worldwide name during Wimbledon, where Osaka lost in the first round. But their history together goes back before all that.

"I practiced with her—I think I was 13—at Miami Open," Gauff said. "That was super cool. I was able to keep the ball on the court. I was super nervous."

"But she's a super sweet person," Gauff continued. "My dad and her dad have known each other for a long time. They always talk all the time ... Her mom is one of the nicest people ever. She's so amazing. Her whole family is just great."

But now that Gauff has joined Osaka as a pro on tour (insofar as she's allowed to play at 15), they've gotten to know one another more as peers, and they even seem to have a budding friendship.

"I saw her in the locker room. She wasn't really talking to anyone," Osaka said. "I was, like, Oh, looks familiar. I'm just going to talk to her. I know she's super young, and I know it's sort of hard to transition."

"I wasn't even a junior," Osaka went on, "but I can only imagine: As a junior you play these tournaments with your friends, and then you come to the pros and you don't know anyone. I'm just, like, Oh, she's a really talented girl. I would love for her to come out of her shell a little bit. I just realized that's probably what people say about me, too."

"Off the court she seems like me. Well, she seems a little bit more like she knows what she's doing," Osaka joked.

It'll certainly be all seriousness, though, when they meet under the lights, for the first time in their careers, with Osaka's No. 1 ranking and title defense on the line.

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

"We're both pretty young, but I'm a little bit newer to the game," said Gauff. "So I'm just curious to see how my game matches up against her. Obviously I want to win."

Gauff comes into the match on a major hot streak, having won 10 of her last 12 matches. Osaka, meanwhile, hasn't strung together three wins since the Madrid clay.

"Honestly, I think she's a big inspiration for everyone," Gauff said of the world No. 1. "She's 21. She has two Slams. She's still thriving for more."

"I think she's just a super sweet person on and off the court." Gauff added. "She competes great out there. I think she shows us how to compete and the way to be off the court, too."