Naomi Osaka Bids Farewell to Wimbledon in Third Round
Tennis player Naomi Osaka, although she seems to feel more comfortable on grass courts at present, says goodbye to Wimbledon again in the third round, after losing 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova this Friday. Osaka arrived at the All England Club this year after having lost three of her last four matches in this tournament, with a career record of 5-4. Her best performance was reaching the third round in 2017 and 2018; she was absent from the tournament in 2021, 2022, and 2023. From 4-4 in the third set, Pavlyuchenkova won eight of the last 10 points of the match, holding her serve to love and then breaking in the final game with the help of a series of unforced forehand errors by Osaka. Osaka has a 0-6 record in three-set matches at Wimbledon or the French Open.Osaka, former world number 1 and now ranked 50th, has four Grand Slam titles, all on hard courts, winning the US Open and the Australian Open twice each. Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 53rd, was the runner-up at the 2021 French Open, and Friday’s victory took her to the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time since she was a quarterfinalist nine years ago. American Amanda Anisimova, a former Wimbledon quarterfinalist and thirteenth seed, defeated Dalma Galfi 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 to reach the fourth round. Argentinian Solana Sierra became the first “lucky loser” to reach the fourth round in women’s singles at Wimbledon in the Open era (since 1968) by defeating Spaniard Cristina Bucsa 7-5, 1-6, 6-1. Sierra is the seventh female “lucky loser” to reach the fourth round in any major tournament in the Open era, a list that includes Eva Lys at this year’s Australian Open.Most of you were cheering for Naomi, but it’s okay. I am mentally strong, so that didn’t bother me at all. On the contrary: it gave me energy.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
