Why the tennis star is finding success on grass after a history of struggles
It’s time to talk about Naomi Osaka’s tennis, especially on the green courts.
The Japanese superstar, one of the 10 highest-paid female athletes on the planet, has made more headlines for her outerwear at the grand slams this year, but she may be on track to win her first Wimbledon title.
This would be an odd scenario for a player who, until not so long ago, was historically unsuccessful on grass courts.
But former world No. 1 Osaka is changing that in real time by defeating Russian-born Australian Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3 on Friday to surpass 25 winners and reach the round of 16 for the first time at the All England club. He was especially devastating in the opening set.
Next up is blockbuster top seed Aryna Sabalenka, a certain midfielder.
Sabalenka, who knocked out Latvian Jelena Ostapenko in straight sets, has never won a Wimbledon title despite her long-term dominance on the WTA Tour.
After struggling for a relatively long time on a surface that surprises and confuses many, Osaka suddenly becomes like a baby deer learning to walk.
“I expected it to be a tough match for me because [Osaka’s] To be honest, the way he plays on grass suits him very well,” Kasatkina said.
“I think he’s starting to find his way on the grass and you can see that in the result.”
Osaka had never won a match on Wimbledon’s No. 1 exhibition court before her win over Kasatkina; However, if the 14th ranked team can maintain this after the difficult relationship they have had with grass courts in the past, there may be more firsts in these two weeks.
Known as a hard court specialist who has won two Australian Open and two US Open titles, he announced after his first round win this week that he was making a concerted effort to embrace the clay and grass court seasons.
The funny thing is that Osaka’s preparations for the Wimbledon title took place on rocky ground with her Polish coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski.
“I can say that it challenged me a lot to think outside the box,” Osaka said.
“Going into the grass season we were doing a lot of things on hard court because that’s where I train. [in Los Angeles]There are no grass courts. We were doing so many different things [designed to bring me forward in the court]. It helped me understand grass court tennis better.
“I think when I was younger I was a little more stubborn about how I wanted to play on that surface, but I realized it was a lot more free-flowing.”
Osaka spent 25 weeks at the top of the rankings in 2019 before Australia’s Ash Barty took over until her retirement following her drought-breaking Australian Open triumph four years ago.
A lot has happened for Osaka in the meantime.
He renounced his US citizenship in late 2019 to retain his Japanese citizenship; withdrew from Roland-Garros in 2021 midway through the tournament after previously announcing that he would not hold post-match media conferences to protect his mental health; and took a break from touring to give birth to her daughter, Shae, in mid-2023.
Since then, Osaka has only shown glimpses of her peak self, most notably during last year’s US Open semifinal run, but she has turned to her love of fashion.
In January, she stepped out at Melbourne Park’s Rod Laver Arena in a flashy jellyfish-inspired outfit, then appeared at Roland-Garros in a sparkling gold outfit before honoring her Japanese heritage in a statement white kimono at Wimbledon.
Unlike other players, Osaka prefers to focus on her outfit rather than what she does with her racket.
“In some ways, I feel like I’m better equipped to talk about my clothes than I am about my tennis,” he said. “It’s weird because I’ve been playing tennis for 20-odd years [yet] some days I don’t feel like an expert on this subject.”
Other rising women include 2025 semifinalist Belinda Bencic, while 2024 US Open finalist Jessica Pegula and rising star Iva Jovic set up an all-American showdown to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the men’s category, world number 1 Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic will compete in the semi-finals.
Sinner defeated American Jenson Brooksby 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, but Djokovic had to work harder to get past 25th-seeded Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4); This ended with a spectacular match point that saw both men go down the field.
Roman Safiullin and Shintaro Mochizuki, who were in the qualifiers, also made progress by beating young players Joao Fonseca and Rafael Jodar, while the resurgent German Jan-Lennard Struff eliminated Daniil Medvedev with sets of 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.
“It’s a strange feeling playing Jannik [next] At Wimbledon, especially this year. I wasn’t winning much before I came here and I don’t know how I won matches here,” Mochizuki said.
“I’m excited, but at the same time I feel a little weird to be here in the round of 16. I just want to keep enjoying it.”
Meanwhile, Kasatkina’s focus now shifts to his post-Wimbledon wedding to his Olympic silver medalist figure skating fiancée Natalia Zabiiako in Athens, Greece.
Coincidentally, Australian top 10 star Alex de Minaur, who will face American Zachary Svajda in the fourth round on Saturday, and British player Katie Boulter are getting married on the same day in the week after Wimbledon ends.
“We will have about 40 people. We have been working on it for about a year, I hope our guests will like it,” Kasatkina said.
“A few [players are attending]. I told them, ‘If you play Athens 250, I will kill you.’ “Honestly it’s going to be amazing and I’m really looking forward to it.”
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