People.com Entertainment Sports Coco Gauff and Naomi Osaka Will Face Off 5 Months After Emotional U.S. Open Match The athletes will meet again in the third round of the Australian Open Thursday By Georgia Slater Georgia Slater Twitter Georgia Slater is a writer/reporter on the Parents team at PEOPLE. She began at the brand in 2018 as an editorial intern and later returned as an intern on the Food team. Upon graduating from the University of Maryland in 2019, Georgia worked as an entertainment intern at USA Today before coming back to PEOPLE as a digital news writer. In April 2021, she began her role as a Parents writer/reporter. People Editorial Guidelines Published on January 22, 2020 12:59 PM Share Tweet Pin Email After battling back from behind on the court, Coco Gauff has set her next showdown with tennis champion Naomi Osaka. Gauff, 15, played a hard-fought match at the Australian Open Wednesday, taking down Romania's Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 after losing to her opponent in the first set. "My parents, they always told me I can come back, no matter what the score is," Gauff told ESPN after the second-round match. WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Osaka, 22, defeated China's Saisai Zheng 6-2, 6-4 in her second-round match, coming out on top after two breaks in the second set, CNN reported. "I got fired up when she got up 4-2 and people started clapping more," Osaka told the outlet. As the two athletes advance forward, they are set to meet on the court Thursday for the first time since their emotional U.S. Open match in August 2019. "I know what to expect," Gauff told ESPN of the upcoming competition. "I'm excited for a good match." Naomi Osaka. Jason Heidrich/Icon Sportswire via Getty "I think [at the] U.S. Open I was nervous," she explained to CNN. "It was my first time on [Arthur] Ashe. We're both familiar with each other's games. She plays really aggressive. This time coming in I'm going to be more aggressive." During the third round of the U.S. Open in August, Osaka defeated Gauff 6-3, 6-0. Coco Gauff Makes History! Teen Becomes Youngest Tennis Player in 15 Years to Reach WTA Final After the match, Osaka invited Gauff to join her winner's interview — a moment that left both tennis players in tears. Coco Gauff 'Can't Thank' Naomi Osaka 'Enough' for Including Her in Interview After U.S. Open Loss "I wanted to leave the court because I lost," Gauff said of the moment during a September interview on Today. She continued, "And she was like 'No, come with me' and I was just shocked because no one ever does that." "I couldn't thank her enough and I was really shocked," the athlete added. "It was an emotional moment — good and bad emotions." "She's been so sweet to me so thank you for this, thank you," Gauff said through tears during the post-match interview.