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US Open: Belinda Bencic sends defending champion Osaka packing

 

Less than 24 hours after showing teenage sensation Gauff Coco the exit door, US Open defending champion Naomi Osaka has equally been bundled out.

Her 10-match US Open winning streak and title defence are done after she was outplayed in the fourth-round by Belinda Bencic in a 7-5, 6-4 defeat.

Osaka has been wearing a black sleeve on her bothersome left knee and was visited by a trainer after getting broken to trail 3-2 in the second set.

The result under the closed roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium on a rainy Monday means both defending champions and No 1 seeds are gone before the quarter-finals at the year’s last Grand Slam tournament.

Novak Djokovic stopped playing in his fourth-round match against Stan Wawrinka on Sunday night because of a painful left shoulder.

Belinda Bencic sent defeated Osaka 7-5 6-4

Osaka made her breakthrough at Flushing Meadows a year ago, winning her first major championship by beating Serena Williams in a chaotic final that devolved after Williams got into an extended argument with the chair umpire.

Osaka followed that up with a second consecutive Grand Slam trophy at the Australian Open in January.

That allowed her to become the first tennis player representing Japan to reach No 1 in the rankings.

The 13th-seeded Bencic, who is from Switzerland and has been mentored by Martina Hingis, showed again that she is a big-match player.

She improved to 3-0 against Osaka this season and now has a tour-leading nine victories over top-10 opponents in 2019.

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