Naomi Osaka said celebrations for Naomi Osaka's daughter’s third birthday did not quite go to plan, then beat Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3 at Wimbledon to reach the last 16 for the first time. The 14th seed finished the match in 66 minutes on No 1 Court and moved into the second week for only the third time since winning the Australian Open title in 2021.
No 1 Court
Osaka arrived wearing a flowing, flower-patterned robe and took control early, breaking in the second game to move into a double-break lead. She finished with 25 winners, five aces and 81% of points behind her first serve.
After the match, Osaka said, "I’m really happy" and added, "I’ve actually never won on this court, so I’m just really glad to have made a really good memory here. It was a really big honour for me to play, so thank you."
Wimbledon and Daria Kasatkina
The result carried more than one clear reference point for Osaka. She had already beaten Elsa Jacquemot and Anastasia Gasanova in straight sets at Wimbledon, and she had also beaten Kasatkina to claim her first WTA title in 2018. Kasatkina had been a quarter-finalist at Wimbledon in 2018 and now has Australian nationality.
Osaka said, "I definitely felt really good today," and explained, "I’ve played a lot of matches on grass for the past two weeks, so I felt really confident. She played really good as well, so I’m really happy with the result."
Aryna Sabalenka next
Osaka was set to play Aryna Sabalenka next after Sabalenka beat Jelena Ostapenko on Friday evening. Asked whether the run could be the start of something special at Wimbledon, Osaka replied, "You tell me," then added, "I’m just trying to take it one day at a time, one point at a time even. It was really fun to play and I hope I keep going further and further."
For Osaka, the practical step is straightforward: she has reached a stage at Wimbledon she had not reached before, and the match load she cited on grass now turns into a sharper test against Sabalenka.
