NEW YORK — This was a fourth-round match with unusually large consequences, a highly charged litmus test, a gut-check in real time.

After missing the entire 2023 season on maternity leave, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has expressed frustration with her lack of progress. When would her game regain that ethereal major-winning quality?

Coco Gauff, even in the wake of a title at Roland Garros, turned to biomechanics specialist Gavin MacMillan just before the US Open, willing to sacrifice short-term results by playing the long game. Could she rely on her great strengths of speed and competitive fire while making significant adjustments to her serve and forehand?

The answers arrived in only 64 minutes on Monday in Arthur Ashe Stadium as Osaka dropped a decisive 6-3, 6-1 decision on Gauff to advance to the quarterfinals. It’s Osaka’s first major quarterfinal since winning the 2021 Australian Open.

It was reminiscent of the memorable match between the two here six years ago. Osaka, at the height of her powers, dispatched a 15-year-old Gauff 6-3, 6-0 in a third-round match that ended with tears. The difference is that Gauff was seeded No. 3 here and Osaka was No. 23.

“I mean I’m a little sensitive — I don’t want to cry,” Osaka said afterward. “Honestly I had so much fun out here.

“This is my favorite court in the world, and it means so much to be back here.”

Much has been made of Osaka’s move to coach Tomasz Wiktorowski. And while Iga Swiatek’s former coach has been a boon to her confidence, the difference between the 2024 Osaka and this year’s edition might just be fitness — and the confidence that brings.

Even earlier this year, she appeared sluggish at times, impatient to end points quickly. Against Gauff, Osaka moved exceptionally well, weathered long rallies and stayed in a visibly positive frame of mind. Her intensity was palpable.

So was her patience. Osaka won 16 of the 24 rallies that went five shots or more. She also converted each of the four break points she earned. Osaka next plays Karolina Muchova, a three-set winner against Marta Kostyuk. 

Gauff, meanwhile, consistently struggled with her forehand and service game. There were five double faults, but the forehand was the real issue. Gauff had 20 unforced errors on that side. On this occasion, even her usually reliable backhand sometimes broke down.

Even early on, Gauff’s forehand was fluky (five errors) and Osaka broke and then held at love for a 2-0 lead.

But while Gauff — with a tweaked toss — had eased into her service games in the opening rounds, she came out firing against Osaka. She stroked two aces in her second service game and the other two first serves were unreturned. They were all 110 mph-plus.

That break was the only margin until Gauff, trailing 5-3, was broken again. Two double faults, in addition to two groundstroke errors, gave Osaka the set in 31 minutes.

With the match on serve at 3-2 in the second set, Gauff served into trouble. A double fault started it and an errant backhand closed it as Osaka converted her third break point in her third try.

Osaka scored one last break to secure the match.

Osaka is realistically trying to win her third US Open title in eight years. This is her fifth trip to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam. It’s worth noting that she won the first four.

The turning point, Osaka said, came last month in Montreal.

That was when Osaka came back from down a set and 5-3, saving two match points, to defeat No. 13 seed Liudmila Samsonova in a match that went more than two-and a-half hours.

“Since then, I’ve been thinking anything’s possible,” Osaka said in her on-court interview. “You just have to have a smile on your face.”

Is Dwayne Johnson headed for the Oscars?

Judging by the rapturous reaction to his performance as wrestler Mark Kerr in “The Smashing Machine” at the Venice Film Festival on Monday night, that seems to be the consensus out of Italy.

The 53-year-old actor sobbed uncontrollably as the audience on the Lido erupted into 15-minute standing ovation, one of the longest at this year’s festival so far.

Johnson, who once performed as the WWE wrestler known as the Rock, has been the star of such commercial fare as “The Mummy,” “Black Adam” and “Baywatch.” But he goes much deeper in his next project, which will be released by A24 in November, as a ’90s fighter with demons.

Johnson stars opposite Emily Blunt in the film, who plays Kerr’s girlfriend Dawn Staples. During the ovation, Benny Safdie — the film’s director — hugged both his stars and joined Johnson in shedding tears of joy as the clapping continued. Adding to the waterworks, Kerr also wept as the credits rolled.

As the hooting and cheering stretched on, “The Smashing Machine” proved to be the most emotional premiere on the Lido since Brendan Fraser collapsed into tears four years ago, launching his Oscar campaign for “The Whale.”

Before the screening started, one fan shouted Johnson’s signature WWE line, “Can you smell what the Rock is cooking?!” — prompting laughter from the man of the hour.

Johnson was in good spirits throughout the night. He worked one of Europe’s most glamorous red carpets, signing autographs for fans and snapping selfies. This year’s 82nd edition of Venice has been packed with stars — ranging from George Clooney to Julia Roberts to Emma Stone — and Johnson and Blunt added to the A-list wattage of the festival that’s now known as the official launch of awards season.

Johnson is nearly unrecognizable “The Smashing Machine,” undergoing pounds of prosthetics to portray the beefy two-time UFC Heavyweight champ. The actor previously told Variety that he was drawn to “The Smashing Machine” because Safdie is someone who “continues to push the envelope when it comes to stories that are raw and real; characters that are authentic and at times uncomfortable and arresting.”

“I’m at a point in my career where I want to push myself in ways that I’ve not pushed myself in the past,” said Johnson, best known for franchise fare like “Jumanji” and the “Fast and Furious” movies. “I want to make films that matter, that explore a humanity and explore struggle [and] pain.”

“The Smashing Machine” marks the solo feature directorial debut of Benny Safdie, who worked with his older brother, Josh, on indie favorites like “Good Time” and “Uncut Gems.” (Josh will also make his solo feature debut this year with A24’s “Marty Supreme,” a sports drama starring Timothee Chalamet.) “The Smashing Machine” reunites Benny Safdie and Blunt, who shared a memorable scene in Christopher Nolan’s historical epic “Oppenheimer,” as well as Johnson and Blunt, who co-starred in Disney’s action-adventure “Jungle Cruise.”