Naomi Osaka booked a spot in the U.S. Open quarterfinals for the second time by beating Anett Kontaveit in straight sets on Sunday.
The 2018 champion and No. 4 seed did not offer a single break point while defeating Kontaveit 6-3, 6-4 in their round of 16 match, landing 71 percent of her first serves and winning 84 percent of those points.
Osaka immediately took control in the first set at Arthur Ashe Stadium, giving up just one point as she broke Kontaveit in the first game. She then fired back-to-back aces in the sixth game to help her take a 4-2 lead.
The Estonian was pressured into 10 unforced errors as the Japanese closed out the opening set in 28 minutes.
Kontaveit showed better fight in the second set and saved five match points, but Osaka finally broke through on a netted forehand by her opponent.
The two-time grand slam champion said after the match that she felt she did a better job at managing her frustration when the 14th-seeded Kontaveit saved several big break points throughout the hard-fought second set.
"I thought it was pretty good. If I'm reflecting on my attitude, I'm pretty sure it was up there for top matches I've played this year," Osaka said.
"For me, it's very important because it's quite easy to get down on yourself, especially when you feel like you could have converted so many times. But I just told myself that she's a great player, she's supposed to hold her serve, so just keep pushing."
The 22-year-old will play her quarterfinal against unseeded American Shelby Rogers who beat Osaka three times before her ascent to world No. 1 early last year. Their most recent meeting was in 2017.
"I haven't played her in a while but she's a great player," Osaka said. "I'm just going into it very optimistic. I feel like I would be the underdog since I've never beaten her."
American Jennifer Brady, who sent three-time grand slam winner Angelique Kerber packing in straight sets on Sunday, will face Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva in the other women's quarterfinal on Osaka's side of the draw.
The win over Kontaveit was Osaka's second in less than two weeks as the pair also faced off in the recent Western and Southern Open quarterfinals.
After their previous meeting, Osaka announced she would not play her semifinal amid a wave of protests and sports boycotts across the United States calling for an end to racial injustice and police violence. She eventually agreed to play the match after talks with tour officials and tournament organizers.
Born to a Haitian father and Japanese mother, Osaka has been wearing masks bearing the names of black victims of police violence upon entering the Flushing Meadows courts to show her support for the social justice movement.
The mask she wore Sunday was in memory of Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old Florida high school student who was fatally shot by former neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman in February 2012.
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