Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka was eliminated in the fourth round of Wimbledon by an inspired Naomi Osaka on Sunday, and the Japanese player cruised to a 6-2, 7-6(2) victory on Center Court to leave the women’s draw open.
With eight Grand Slam titles between them, the blockbuster matchup topped the card on day seven but ended up lacking the expected fireworks as 14th-seeded Osaka dominated.
Sabalenka was left screaming in frustration throughout the 32-minute first set as her power play faltered.
The second set was more like the high-octane contest the crowd was expecting, but a composed Osaka stayed calm to break Sabalenka’s streak of 21 unbeaten Grand Slam tiebreaks and claim her biggest win since returning to the Tour in 2024 following the birth of her daughter Shai.
After scoring a backhand on match point, world number one Sabalenka took out her anger on a ball and fired it wide of center court.
Osaka’s victory not only took her to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time, but left the women’s draw intriguingly prepared heading into the second week without a clear favorite.
She will next face 10th seed Karolina Muchova, whose victory over fellow Czech Barbora Krejcikova secured her ninth consecutive women’s champion title for the first time at the All England Club.
“I think it was a very fun match. I’m very grateful for this. 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 so much fun on the court. Doing it here really means a lot. I lost to her like three times in a row, so it really sucked.”
“So I wanted to turn it around.”
Get drunk and forget about tennis
After third-round losses to defending champion Iga Swiatek and second-seeded Elena Rybakina on Saturday, the door seemed to have opened wide for Sabalenka after three straight semifinals, but she was well below her best.
“Now I want to go get drunk and forget about tennis,” the still sweaty 28-year-old said after arriving at her press conference minutes after leaving the court.
Both players are best known as hard-court specialists, with four Grand Slams each on that surface.
Born seven months apart, their careers have taken very different trajectories: Osaka won 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 on her way to the 2018 US Open title, they had gone almost eight years without facing each other. However, they finally returned to the same orbit and faced each other at this year’s French Open, where Sabalenka won.
Osaka has once again caused a stir with her Japanese-inspired ensembles, but it’s her dazzling sneakers that are now starting to turn heads.
She was the first to attack from the start on Sunday, the quality of her serve continually returning sending Sabalenka off balance as she broke twice to take the first set.
Sabalenka tried everything to cheer herself up, banging her head on her racquet at the start of the second set, but despite keeping up the pace, she rarely seemed in control and seemed to be fighting herself as much as Osaka.
Osaka simply maintained her precision on serve and precise groundstrokes and, even with Sabalenka’s ominous record in tiebreakers, was unfazed.
“I wasn’t really thinking about my tiebreaker record,” Sabalenka said. “Like I said, what could you do if the person is hitting and hitting the lines, and going for his shots without fear?
“I was really fighting myself. She was just going for it.”
