By the numbers: Osaka cools off qualifier Gibson at Wimbledon

Former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka scored a first-round win at Wimbledon for the second year in a row on Monday as she came from a break down in both sets of her first-round match against Australian qualifier Talia Gibson to triumph  6-4, 7-6(4). 

Wimbledon: Scores | Order of play | Draw

Against a 21-year-old playing in just her second career Grand Slam main draw, Osaka trailed 3-1 in the first set, and later, was behind both 5-3 and 6-5 in the second set as Gibson eyed a decider. But the Perth native, who won her first major main-draw match on home soil in Melbourne in January never reached set point. She was broken at love both times, and Osaka used an early lead in the tiebreak to push safely through to the second round.

Osaka will have to wait to learn her second-round opponent. She'll face the winner of the match between No. 5 seed Zheng Qinwen and Katerina Siniakova, which was postponed until Tuesday as a result of fading light. 

Osaka hit 18 winners and five aces in victory, her second on grass this summer. But those weren't the only notable numbers in her victory. 

2: Osaka's win was just her second at Wimbledon in the last seven years. In 2024, she defeated France's Diane Parry in her comeback to the grass-court tournament as a mother -- her first Wimbledon appearance since 2019. 

3: Osaka has now won her last three tiebreaks on grass this summer. After losing one against Liudmila Samosonova in defeat at the Berlin Tennis Open, she beat Serbia's Olga Danilovic in the first round of the Bad Homburg Open in two tiebreaks.

4: Osaka only hit four winners in the first set, where she benefitted from 18 unforced errors by Gibson. All five of her aces came in the second set, too. 

6: Osaka is now 6-4 at Wimbledon in her career -- her fewest match wins at any of the four Grand Slams. She has 53 match wins combined at the other three majors.

"I think just making my match today, playing someone that I've never played before, and also getting over the first-round nerves was a little tricky," Osaka told reporters afterward. "I'm glad that I did it, and I hope that I have many more matches to come.

"I know the grass season hasn't been particularly amazing for me this year, but I'm really happy with how much I fight every match."

The four-time Grand Slam champion is bidding to reach the third round of Wimbledon for the first time since 2018.