In front of a packed and partisan Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd, Gauff suffered a straight-set loss, 6-3, 6-2, to four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
At just 21, Gauff has made 25 Grand Slam main draw appearances and won two major titles.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cI feel like I put so much pressure on myself at my age of 21, and I realise how much the girls on tour are being successful at 25, 26, at those ages. For me, it just gets me excited to realise if I have four more years of just working as hard as I am right now and actually doing the right things, where my game could be,\" Gauff said in a post-match presser.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
During her second-round match with Donna Vekic, the weight of all her effort finally overwhelmed her. She was in tears during the match, but survived the tussle and then cruised in the third round against Magdalena Frech.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Gauff admitted that she felt a little hollow during her match with Osaka. \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing. For sure it was not the level that I wanted to bring, but it is a step in the right direction, I feel. I maybe was a little bit empty\u2014she forced me to earn every point out there today,\" Gauff said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I promise you that I don\u2019t feel that way right now, but I am not going to let this crush me. I look forward to the future and making more improvements. Hopefully, next year I can grow a lot as a player and as a person.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I know the improvements that I need to make, and I feel like I\u2019m making the right decision by making them,\u201d Gauff said. \u201cI wish I had more time between this tournament and Cincinnati, but that\u2019s the cards that I was given,\" she added.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\"I promise you that I don\u2019t feel that way right now, but I am not going to let this crush me. I look forward to the future and making more improvements. Hopefully, next year I can grow a lot as a player and as a person.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
\u201cWhatever happens for the rest of the year, I just want it to be an improvement. I don\u2019t care about results. I think where my serve started from the start of the tournament to today was a big improvement. I feel like now I just have to get everything to work together,\" Gauff said.<\/p>\r\n\r\n