19-year-old Naomi Osaka defeats defending champion Angelique Kerber | US Open 2017 Round One

Some matches become more meaningful with time. The Naomi Osaka-Angelique Kerber opening-round meeting at the 2017 US Open is certainly one of those such encounters.

Not quite a changing of the guard, it nonetheless brought together the defending champion, Kerber, and the following year's champ, Osaka. The unseeded challenger, 19 years of age at the time, ended the German's title defense in clinical fashion in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It was Osaka's first career Top-10 win, and provided a glimpse into the world-beating talent of the Japanese—talent that would soon see her crowned queen in New York, and within 17 months, claim the world No. 1 ranking, after she followed up her 2018 US Open triumph with another trophy at the 2019 Australian Open.

Kerber, meanwhile, recovered beautifully from her first-round stumble and an overall down year in 2017, which saw the former world No. 1 drop to No. 19 by year's end. At the first three majors of 2018, she reached the Australian Open semifinals and the French Open quarters, before winning her third career Slam at Wimbledon.

Don't miss a moment of the US Open! Subscribe now! https://bit.ly/2Pdr81i