Naomi Osaka continued her impressive Wimbledon run by reaching the quarterfinals for the first time in her career, stunning top seed Aryna Sabalenka with a commanding 6-2 7-6(2) victory in the fourth round.
After facing inconsistent results in the months following her return from maternity leave, Osaka has rediscovered her top level under the guidance of Tomasz Wiktorowski, the former coach of Iga Swiatek. Since adding the Pole to her team late last year, the four-time Grand Slam champion has returned to the latter stages of the biggest tournaments, highlighted by a semifinal appearance at the 2025 US Open, followed by her deepest runs yet at Roland Garros and now Wimbledon.
Osaka wasted no time asserting herself against the world No. 1 on Sunday, storming through the opening set in just over half an hour. Both players held serve throughout the second set, pushing it into a tiebreak where the match was ultimately decided. Sabalenka entered the breaker backed by an extraordinary run of 21 consecutive Grand Slam tiebreak victories, but she was unable to extend that streak as Osaka quickly seized control, opening with a 6-1 lead and maintaining her advantage to close it out.
The defeat marks Sabalenka’s earliest Grand Slam exit since Roland Garros in 2022 and ends a remarkable streak of 122 major matches without losing in straight sets.
Awaiting Osaka in the quarterfinals is No. 10 seed Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, who advanced by defeating 2024 champion Barbora Krejcikova. Muchova’s victory also guarantees that Wimbledon will crown a new women’s singles champion for the 10th year in a row. (via BBC, photo: Jimmie48)
