World number one Naomi Osaka will continue her US Open title defence on Monday when she faces Belinda Bencic for a place in the quarter-finals.

The 21-year-old won her first Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows last year but has lost two of her three previous meetings with the Swiss 13th seed.

"The thing with me is I get better as the tournament goes on," said Osaka.

Three-time champion Rafael Nadal takes on 2014 winner Marin Cilic in the Arthur Ashe Stadium night session.

Japan's Osaka was involved in an emotional embrace with Coco Gauff in the previous round after she beat the 15-year-old 6-3 6-0.

Osaka, who won her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January, says she "trusts myself more" in the latter stages of tournaments.

"The last two times I was in the round of 16, I won it, if that answers... I don't want to say that. That's bold.

"I'm just out here trying my best. I'm just going with the flow at this rate. I've never defended a Grand Slam before."

Her match against 22-year-old Bencic, who is looking to reach the quarter-finals in New York for a second time, will be first on Ashe from 17:00 BST.

In the other women's singles last-16 matches, 19-year-old Canadian Bianca Andreescu plays American Taylor Townsend, Kristie Ahn, also from the US, faces Belgian 25th seed Elise Mertens and Croatia's Donna Vekic takes on Germany's Julia Gorges.

Nadal's moment to 'make a step forward'

Spaniard Nadal is the men's second seed and has a favourable draw with long-term rivals Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer placed in the other half.

Nadal has enjoyed a relatively easy passage to the last 16, winning two matches in straight sets and having a walkover in the second round when Thanasi Kokkinakis withdrew through injury.

But the 33-year-old said "you never know what's better or worse" when it comes to time spent on court.

"Now is the moment to push, to make a step forward if I want to give me a chance to fight for the important things," he said. "That's what I'm going to try."

Cilic said he must "serve well" and be a "little bit aggressive" to impose himself on Nadal.

"I'm going to have to be ready for a tough battle. Hopefully I'm going to win that one," added the Croat.

Either German sixth seed Alexander Zverev, 22, or 27-year-old Argentine Diego Schwartzman, who follow Osaka and Bencic on Ashe, will face the winner.

Meanwhile, unseeded Russian Andrey Rublev plays Italian 24th seed Matteo Berrettini and French 13th seed Gael Monfils takes on Spaniard Pablo Andujar.

Karolina Pliskova was one of the favourites to win the US Open title, but was beaten by Britain's Johanna Konta in a compelling last-16 match.

In her final BBC Sport column from New York, the Czech third seed talks about her exit at Flushing Meadows, why it has not changed her belief she can win a Grand Slam - and her love for fishing.

Losing to Johanna Konta was disappointing but I would not say this was another golden opportunity missed to finally win my first Grand Slam.

I played an opponent who has been fourth in the world, so it was always going to be very hard, and then she played the best I've seen her play.

And even if I had won, I would have played Elina Svitolina, and possibly Serena Williams in the semi-finals, so there would not be an easy match between now and the final.

Maybe the first couple of matches were a little easier than they sometimes they can be, but this was not a dream draw for me. The standard is so high in the women's game but I'm still sure I have the game to win a Grand Slam - that remains the goal.

Overall, I played solid in the tournament - it was not a disaster and it was nothing super. I could do much better.

Leading by a set and a break against Johanna meant it was, of course, a big chance but it is not like I missed match points - it was very close all the way through the match.

Immediately after losing a match like that, I don't feel angry. You have a lot of emotion and stress during a tournament so once you lose it is like all those emotions are suddenly lifted.

'She said she had improved since Rome - she was 50 times better!'

It is tough to talk about positives because I don't see any.

Maybe it was my best match of the tournament but sometimes it is not enough when somebody plays as well as Johanna did. I had beaten Johanna in six of our seven previous meetings at tour level, but she played more aggressive than our other matches.

She said before she thought she had improved since I beat her in the Italian Open final in Rome - and I think she was 50 times better!

What impressed me the most was the way she went for her shots a little bit more, because normally I think she waits more for mistakes from her opponent, or plays more crosscourt, but she went for every shot and a lot of times she hit the line. She was brave and it paid off.

She also served very well, especially in the third set when she was behind on serve and I was always one game up. She did a great job by serving under pressure and putting the pressure back on to me.

Overall I'd say it was her best match of the tournament so far, but it is tough to say how far she can go.

She has reached this part of a Grand Slam a few times now, and semi-finals, but I'm not sure if she can go on to win it because Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka are still in the draw, while Elina is going to be tough in the next round.

'A chance to catch up with family - but no time for fishing'

I will not watch the rest of the tournament because of the time difference - I am flying back to Prague straight away - and there is nobody who I would be interested in staying up to watch.

When I get to Prague I will take some time off because the month has been long and I haven't had many days off. Then I will think about my plan, and then the Asia swing which starts later this month.

My twin sister Kristyna is already back in the Czech Republic so we will spend time with our family because we are away a lot, and maybe I will go home to Monte Carlo for a couple of days too.

I will also get to see our little sister - she is six and starts school this week. She is very excited about that. She is very clever, I think more than most six-year-olds, so she should do very well at school and enjoy it.

Obviously I wish I was still going to be here in New York all week, but at least it will be nice to see her going to school on her first week there.

Other than that, I will be sleeping, shopping and doing all the normal stuff - although I doubt I'll have time for fishing, which is one of my favourite hobbies!

I like fresh water fishing a lot. The Czech Republic has no coast so I fish in rivers, ponds or lakes.

You need a licence to fish so I have one of those and I know more about the waters there, although I went deep-sea fishing in the Seychelles and Miami last year to try different things.

My father is a big fan of fishing - that's where I get my love from - and he tries to teach me how to fish when we go. But I never catch any big fish!

If you want to catch smaller fish then it is easier because you could possibly catch one every 20 or 30 minutes, but if you want to go for bigger weights then you need to be sitting there for hours and hours - maybe all night.

It is a relaxing hobby. I don't have my phone on when I'm fishing because you need to be focused and quiet, so it can be helpful for the mental part.

Once my tennis career is over I want to go fishing more, but for the moment I only have one or two days off every now and then so I don't get the chance.

Karolina Pliskova was talking to BBC Sport's Jonathan Jurejko at Flushing Meadows

Exeter have launched their bid for a side in next season's Premier 15s.

The club has appointed Gloucester-Hartpury coach Susie Appleby as head coach with former England and Saracens hooker Amy Garnett as her assistant.

The Rugby Football Union will award four licences in March for a revised 10-team league starting in 2020-21.

Exeter are spending £500,000 to set the team up and anticipate a further outlay of between £1m and £1.5m if the side is awarded a place in the new structure.

"Our challenge is to grow the game down in Devon and Cornwall, provide the facility for them to get to a club like Exeter Chiefs," Appleby told BBC Sport.

"But we're under no illusions; to compete at Tyrell Premier 15s level we'll need experienced players as well.

"We're trying to create something that's got the good young players who are hopefully the next best thing and hopefully will stick an England shirt on. But alongside them we're going to need some experience so as we grow over the next few months we're going to be having conversations with experienced players.

"We know what you need as an international player and that's what we're going to create here and we've got the best support that you can have in place."

Exeter aim for sustainable women's side

Exeter were the only Premiership club to make a profit last season and that money, along with the windfall from CVC Capital Partners' investment of more than £200m in the men's top flight, has helped fund the Devon club's outlay.

While most of the players will have to juggle part-time work with playing, the club does have a competitive budget for their new team.

"We've committed up to £500,000 this year because we've got no income as no team's playing, no sponsorship, but we've got to get it off the ground," chief executive Tony Rowe - who has presided over Exeter's rise from the lower leagues in the late 1990s to a Premiership title in 2017- told BBC Sport.

"I would, knowing the numbers, suggest it's probably going to cost somewhere between £1m to £1.5m to run a women's side currently, if you want a successful side.

"We want the women to stand on their own two feet, have their own sponsors and their own match days so they have income coming in, and I'm sure we can do that.

"Nothing's easy, but it was easier for me when I went to the board and asked for the money when we were making a profit than to go to the board of a company that's not making a profit."

'We know there's a hunger here'

While Appleby moves from Premier 15s side Gloucester-Hartpury, former police officer Garnett has given up the chance to study for teaching qualifications to join the side.

And while there is no guarantee that Exeter will obtain a licence, she says there is a market that can be served in the West Country.

"The university and the college have already got their rugby academies and set-ups and we know there's a hunger here.

"I played at Saracens for 18 years and I never wanted to go anywhere else and that's the sort of thing I want to build at Exeter.

"I want the players to come here, feel like family, stay here and help grow the game here and be part of the product."

RFU to review Premier 15s licences

The RFU set up the current 10-team Premier 15s format in time for the start of the 2017-18 season, with each team having a three-year licence.

They will audit the existing Premier 15s sides based on a combination of their on-pitch performance and their ability to deliver the minimum standards in off-field support and infrastructure. The top six sides based on that audit will be given a licence for the next three years.

The remaining four teams, along with the winners of the Championship North and Championship South, will be invited to re-tender for a place in the league, along with other clubs - like Exeter - that wish to apply.

"We now need to tick minimum operating standards, and they are stringent," added Appleby.

"We need to make sure we're ticking them before we go to the next step, and that's alongside getting the players in and providing what they need, because there's a lot of clubs in this M5 corridor. We've got Bristol, Worcester, Gloucester-Hartpury and ourselves all trying to compete.

"We need to make sure we have 60 players and the RFU are saying to us 'where are you going to get them from?' That's our challenge, but then it's the added value - how can you add value to a player's life?

"It might not just be on the field, it might be a coaching course or a work opportunity and those are the big things we'll be reaching out to the local community for."