LONDON — No. 14 seed Naomi Osaka ended her Grand Slam career in emphatic fashion in the tournament’s second week on Friday, defeating Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3 in just 65 minutes to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time.
Osaka has now reached the fourth round at least once at each major, and nine times in total: three times at the Australian Open (including two titles), once at Roland Garros, once at Wimbledon and four times at the US Open (including two titles). She is the 31st active player to accomplish this feat.
Osaka was up against one of those players: former No. 8 Kasatkina, a Wimbledon quarterfinalist in 2018, completed her set to reach the fourth round of the 2025 Australian Open. It was the first meeting on grass between the two 1997-born rivals, and it followed the pattern previously established on hard and clay courts, with Osaka now leading head-to-head matches 4–0 and 8–1 in sets.
The former world No. 1 dominated to take a 6-1, 3-1 lead after dropping just five service points in the first set. With her back to the wall, Kasatkina began extending her rallies and landing forehands – and one stunning shot – to put Osaka back to 3-3. But she was unable to maintain that momentum as Osaka battled through with three deuces, broke again at 4-3 and cruised to victory from there.
More to come…