Naomi Osaka knocked top seed Aryna Sabalenka out of Wimbledon on Sunday, while Novak Djokovic broke Roger Federer’s record for match victories at the All England Club.
Former world No 1 Osaka progressed to the women’s singles quarter-finals with a 6-2 7-6 (7-2) victory, in the process avenging her recent French Open defeat to Sabalenka.
The striking entrance outfits Osaka wears to walk on to the court have already generated headlines at this tournament, and the lace gown she strode on to Centre Court in was no exception.
As well as looking the part, Osaka is also performing like a star once play gets under way, especially this time when she delivered her first win over the world No 1 in eight years.
Osaka had lost her last three matches against Sabalenka, which included a defeat at the French Open a month ago.
Osaka enters Centre Court
But Osaka had learned the lessons of those experiences and was on the front foot once she broke Sabalenka early in the first set.
Sabalenka fought back, but Osaka, after a nervy hold of serve, scored a stunning double break. The Belarusian could not recover from that in the first set, which Osaka took emphatically.
Sabalenka took a pause to leave the court before looking to regroup in the second set. She never gave up, especially after giving herself a pep talk with a slap of the racket to her head and Sabalenka matched Osaka much more closely in the second set.
Osaka raced to win the first set
They battled all the way through to a tie-break, but that was where Osaka excelled. She stormed ahead to get five match points. Sabalenka slammed down an ace to delay her, but Osaka sealed the next point to take the tie-break and a memorable victory.
“I’m just really grateful. For me, this court is so special, and this is the first match I’ve won on this court,” Osaka said. “I really appreciate it with the atmosphere.
“It was a really fun match! Even if I lost, I would have thought it was a fun match.”
She continued: “It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun on court, and to do it here means a lot.
“Going into this match, I’d lost to her three times in a row. That really sucked, I wanted to turn things round and I’m really glad I got the opportunity to do that.”
Djokovic apologises for ‘outbursts’
Djokovic topped Federer’s record for the most men’s singles match wins at Wimbledon when he beat Roman Safiullin on Centre Court before Osaka’s blockbuster showdown with Sabalenka.
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic beat Safiullin in four sets to take his 106th match victory at the All England Club.
But it was not plain sailing for the great Serb who was troubled by Safiullin, a qualifier ranked 132nd in the world, before claiming a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 3-6 6-3 win.
Djokovic started brightly enough with a break but Safiullin broke back and dragged Djokovic into a tie-breaker, which the Serb won.
Novak Djokovic broke Roger Federer’s Wimbledon win record
He kept his composure to chalk up the second set but Djokovic’s frustrations became more apparent. He repeatedly held his hands up to the sky and when Safiullin slammed a ball past him to break in the third set, Djokovic even smashed a ball into the back of the court.
That earned a round of boos at Centre Court but there were plenty of cheers for at times brilliant rallies between the pair. Djokovic had to vary his approach to win, rushing to the net to land expert volleys.
He broke in the fourth set and controlled the action from there, finishing with a fantastic serve and volley to progress to the quarter-finals.
He acknowledged his “outbursts” afterwards. “I apologise,” Djokovic said.
He added: “Today it was one of those days where I didn’t want to stay in the rally for too long. So I had to mix things up.
“Survive to thrive. That’s how I feel. So hopefully the thriving part is coming.”
