In the midst of her best Wimbledon run since 2018, Naomi osaka has been shortened. Osaka was eliminated in a match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round of the tournament on Friday.
Osaka got off to a fast start and won their first set against Pavlyuchenkova 6-3. Osaka’s serve was particularly strong throughout the game as he scored 15 aces. She played a game with almost no errors and had fewer unforced errors than Pavlyuchenkova.
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But that wasn’t enough to stop Pavlyuchenkova, who was the perfect 13 for 13 at Netpoint. She rode that domination to win both the second and third sets, 6-4 and 6-4, to eliminate Osaka.
This victory pushes Pavlyuchenkova into the fourth round at Wimbledon for the second time in her career. She arrived in the quarterfinals of the tournament in 2016, where she fell to Serena Williams.
Despite past successes in the Grand Slam, the Wimbledon victory remains elusive for Osaka, who has never made it past the third round of the tournament. Even between her prime, which won two Australian openings from 2018 to 2021 and two Frenchmen opened, Osaka struggled at Wimbledon. That poor run continued on Friday after losing to Pavlyuchenkova.
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Osaka has struggled since winning the Australian Open in 2021, but losses on Friday provided hope for her to return to form. Her dominant service was a strong indication that she was physically feeling better. If Osaka can build on it, there is still a chance that it will be able to return to the tennis elite level they displayed from 2018 to 2021.
