Osaka Overpowers Sabalenka To Reach Wimbledon Quarterfinals

LONDON (AP) — Naomi Osaka outslugged top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 (2) to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time. Sabalenka had beaten Osaka in all three of her previous matches with Osaka this year including at the same stage of the French Open last month. But this time Sabalenka couldn’t handle Osaka’s pace and flat groundstrokes It was Osaka’s first win over a No. 1 player since beating Ash Barty in Beijing in 2019. That was before Osaka took a breaks from the tour to manage her mental health in 2021 and for maternity leave that resulted in her missing all of 2023. Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner also won.