Naomi Osaka blows chance to reach Wimbledon fourth round, Ben Shelton wins in 55 seconds

South China Morning Post

7 hours ago

Naomi Osaka blew a golden opportunity to reach the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time as the Japanese star was beaten by Russian world No 50 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Friday.
Osaka was in a strong position after taking the first set on Court Two, but her bid to finally make the last 16 imploded as Pavlyuchenkova battled back to clinch a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.
The 27-year-old is a four-time grand slam champion, but she has not won a major since 2021.
Osaka's four previous appearances at Wimbledon ended in two third-round defeats and losses in the first and second rounds.
Once again she fell short at the grass-court grand slam.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova celebrates her win over Naomi Osaka on Friday. Photo: EPA
Since her triumph at the Australian Open four years ago, she has been on a dismal run of 12 successive grand slam appearances without reaching the fourth round.