Coco Gauff reacts to her ‘Olympic roomie’ Lily Zhang's China Open presence as the table tennis player cheers her on during Naomi Osaka match

Coco Gauff reacted to her compatriot and table tennis star Lily Zhang cheering her on during her fourth-round match against Naomi Osaka at the 2024 China Open. The American has proceeded to the quarterfinals after the Japanese retired from the match after two sets.

Gauff, seeded fourth, has had a good run at the China Open so far. She received a bye in the opening round as a result of her seeding and kicked off her campaign with a straight-set win over Clara Burel (7-5, 6-3). She followed it up with a 7-5, 6-2 win over 26th seed Katie Boulter to set up a highly anticipated clash against Naomi Osaka in the fourth round.

The Japanese claimed the opening set 6-3 but her lead was nullified by the 20-year-old, who bounced back to take the second set 6-4 and force the match into a decider. However, Naomi Osaka, who seemed to be struggling with some back issues, decided to retire, bringing their match to an unfortunate end.

Coco Gauff had a special fan cheering her on during this match in her Paris Olympic roommate Lily Zhang. The 28-year-old took to Instagram to share a clip of the tennis star in action, which was later reshared by Gauff who wrote,

"my olympic roomie 🥲❤."

Zhang, who lost in the opening round of the 2024 China Smash to Nayeong Kim in straight-sets, reshared Gauff's story and wrote,

"roomies supporting roomies🤝 (but I lost too fast in china smash oops)."

via Instagram.

Coco Gauff will continue her China Open campaign against Yulia Starodubtseva in the quarterfinals

Coco Gauff (Source: Getty)

Coco Gauff's run at the 2024 China Open will continue against qualifier Yulia Stradubtseva in the quarterfinals, in what will be the first meeting between the two women.

The Ukrainian has been in scintillating form at the WTA 1000 event. During the qualifiers, she defeated Carol Zhao and Jang Su-jeong, winning both matches in straight sets to secure a place in the main draw.

She defeated veteran Laura Siegemund in the opening round and followed it up with wins over 27th-seed Katerina Siniakova and Elina Avanesyan in the subsequent rounds.

Stradubtseva ousted 10th seed Anna Kalinskaya 7-5, 6-0 to reach to reach the final 8 in China, her best result at a WTA 1000 She is yet to drop a set at the event. This result has also guaranteed her debut in the Top 100 rankings.

The winner of the match between Coco Gauff and Yulia Stradubtseva will play either Paula Badosa or Zhang Shuai in the semifinals.