Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka was knocked out in the fourth round of Wimbledon by an inspired Naomi Osaka on Sunday, with the Japanese player winning 6-2, 7-6 (2) on Center Court to blow the women’s draw wide open.
With eight Grand Slam titles between them, the blockbuster duel dominated the show on day seven, but ended up lacking the expected fireworks as 14th seed Osaka dominated.
Sabalenka screamed in frustration during a 32-minute opening set as her power play failed.
The second set looked more like the high-octane contest the crowd expected, but a composed Osaka remained composed to end Sabalenka’s unbeaten streak of 21 Grand Slam tie-breaks and claim her biggest victory since returning to the Tour in 2024 following the birth of her daughter Shai.
After scoring a backhand on a match point, world number one Sabalenka vented her anger on a ball, blasting it high into center court.
Osaka’s victory not only took her to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time, but it also left the women’s draw surprisingly well-balanced heading into the second week without a clear favorite.
She will next face 10th seed Karolina Muchova, whose victory over fellow Czech Barbora Krejcikova guaranteed her a ninth consecutive champion for the first time at the All England Club.
“I think it was a really fun match. I’m really grateful for it. Even if I lost, I would still think it was a great match,” Osaka said after her first victory on Center Court.
“I mean, it’s been a long time since I had this much fun on the court. To do it here, it really means a lot. I lost to her three times in a row, so it really sucked.
“So I wanted to return it.”
Get drunk and forget tennis
After third-round defeats to defending champion Iga Swiatek and second seed Elena Rybakina on Saturday, the door appeared to have opened wide for Sabalenka after three successive semi-finals, but she was well below her best.
“Now I want to go get drunk and forget about tennis,” the 28-year-old said, still sweating, after arriving at her press conference minutes after leaving the court.
Both players are better known as hard court specialists, with four Grand Slams each on that surface.
Born seven months apart, their careers followed very different trajectories, with Osaka winning all four of her Grand Slams before the slightly younger Sabalenka found her rhythm and claimed her first victory at the 2023 Australian Open.
Since Osaka beat Sabalenka en route to the 2018 US Open title, they have gone nearly eight years without facing each other. They are finally back in the same orbit and met at Roland Garros this year, where Sabalenka won.
Osaka has once again caused a stir with her Japanese-inspired outfits, but it’s her dazzling tennis shoes that are now really starting to turn heads.
She was the first to strike from the start on Sunday, the quality of her serve continually coming back to unbalance Sabalenka as she broke twice to win the first set.
Sabalenka tried everything to motivate herself, banging her racket against her head early in the second set, but despite maintaining the pace, she rarely looked in control and seemed to be struggling as much as Osaka.
Osaka simply maintained her serving precision and clean hitting from the back of the court and, even with Sabalenka’s worrying record in tiebreaks, she didn’t flinch.
“I wasn’t thinking about my tiebreak record at all,” Sabalenka said. “Like I said, what can I do if the person is successful and hitting the lines, attempting their shots without fear?
“I was really fighting with myself. She was just going for it.”
