Gauff through after Osaka withdraws at China Open…..See More

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.

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.