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 storming to a 6-2, 7-6(2) victory on Center Court to blow open the women’s tie.
With eight Grand Slam titles between them, the blockbuster duel topped the Day 7 ticket, but it ended up lacking the expected fireworks as 14th seed Osaka dominated.
Sabalenka was left screaming in frustration during a 32-minute opening set when her power game failed.
The second set looked more like the high-octane contest the crowd expected, but a composed Osaka remained cool to snap Sabalenka’s streak of 21 unbeaten tiebreaks in Grand Slams and claim her biggest win since returning to the Tour in 2024 following the birth of daughter Shai.
After scoring a backhand on match point, world number one Sabalenka took her anger out on a ball and blasted it high out of Center Court.
Osaka’s victory not only took her into the quarter-finals at Wimbledon for the first time, it left the women’s draw intriguing heading into week two with no clear favourite.
She will next face 10th seed Karolina Muchova, whose victory over fellow Czech Barbora Krejcikova guaranteed a ninth consecutive first-time women’s champion at the All England Club.
“I think it was a really fun match. I’m really grateful for this. Even if I lost, I would still think it was a great match,” Osaka said after her first win on Center Court.
“I mean, it’s been a long time since I’ve had this much fun on the court. To do this, it really means a lot. I lost to her three times in a row, so it was really sad.
“So I wanted to turn it around.”
Get drunk and forget about tennis
After third-round defeats to defending champion Iga Swiatek and second seed Elena Rybakina on Saturday, the door seemed wide open for Sabalenka after three straight semi-final runs, but she was well below her best.
“Now I want to go get drunk and forget about tennis,” the still-sweating 28-year-old said after arriving at his press conference minutes after walking off 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 have taken very different paths, with Osaka winning all four of her Grand Slams before the slightly younger Sabalenka found her groove and captured her first at the 2023 Australian Open.
Since Osaka beat Sabalenka en route to the 2018 US Open title, they had gone almost eight years without facing each other. However, they are finally back on the same circuit and met at this year’s French Open, where Sabalenka prevailed.
Osaka has once again caused a stir with her Japanese-inspired walk-on outfits, but it’s her dazzling tennis that is now really starting to turn heads.
She was the first to break from the start on Sunday, the quality of her serve returning and catching Sabalenka off balance as she broke twice to take the first set.
Sabalenka tried everything to fire herself up, banging her racket against her head early in the second set, but despite keeping the pace, she rarely looked in control and seemed to be fighting herself as much as Osaka.
Osaka simply maintained her serving accuracy and sharp forehands from the back of the court, and even with Sabalenka’s ominous record in tiebreaks, she did not back down.
“I wasn’t thinking about my tiebreak record at all,” Sabalenka said. “Like I said, what can I do if the person steps forward and hits the streaks and goes for her shot without fear?
“I really struggled with myself. She just wanted to.”
