Naomi Osaka beats Daria Kasatkina to reach Wimbledon fourth round
Former world number one Naomi Osaka has reached the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time after thrashing Daria Kasatkina 6-1 6-3 in just 65 minutes.
All four of the Japanese 14th seed’s major singles titles have been won on hard courts, having traditionally struggled to impose her big-hitting game on clay and grass.
However, the four-time Grand Slam champion looked completely at home on Court One, executing a near-perfect opening set where she hit just six unforced errors and lost only five points on serve.
Her opponent briefly improved in the second set to recover an early break, but Osaka quickly regained control to win the next three games and seal the victory.
Confidence growing on grass
This dominant display comes less than five weeks after the Japanese star reached the last 16 of the French Open for the very first time.
Her preparation for the All England Club included a run to her maiden grass-court final at the Bad Homburg Open last month, which ultimately ended in an injury retirement against Karolina Muchova.
That impressive run in Germany clearly provided a much-needed boost on the surface, as the baseline specialist is yet to drop a single set at SW19.
“I definitely felt really good today. I’ve played a lot of matches on grass for the past two weeks, so I felt really confident.”
Potential blockbuster tie awaits
Osaka could face top seed Aryna Sabalenka in a mouth-watering clash next if the Belarusian manages to defeat Latvia’s Jelena Ostapenko later on Friday.
Since returning from maternity leave in 2024, the former US Open winner has only advanced past the fourth round of a major tournament on one occasion.
Away from the court, the tennis star was celebrating her daughter Shai’s third birthday on Thursday, sharing a lighthearted parenting anecdote with the crowd.
“We tried to take her to the park, but then she needed to be in time-out, so we are going to try to take her today.”
“It was an awesome birthday, she blew out her candles and made a wish so I hope her wish is to behave better. If not, today is a new day for her!”