Osaka equals best Wimbledon result by reaching third round

Four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has played Wimbledon five previous times. Her best result at the All England Club is reaching the third round, which she accomplished in 2017, 2018 and 2025.

On Wednesday, the former world No. 1 returned to the third round with a dominant straight-sets victory over 225th-ranked qualifier Anastasia Gasanova.

The 28-year-old Japanese made a flying start, dropping just two points as she raced to a 3-0 lead. She maintained that advantage throughout the opening set and took it 6-3.

In the second set, Osaka broke in the fifth game to move ahead 3-2 and never looked back. She wrapped up the 6-3, 6-2 victory in 1 hour, 7 minutes without facing a single break point.

"I think today for some reason I felt a lot more nervous than I did in my first round," Osaka told the media after her win. "That was a little strange. I think for me, obviously I have a goal of what I want to achieve this tournament. Just I guess to play someone I've never played before, it was something new."

The win improved her grass-court record this season to 6-1 after reaching the final in Bad Homburg last week. Osaka was forced to retire during the second set of that final against Karolina Muchova because of a foot injury, but she has shown no signs of the issue in her first two matches this week.

By reaching the third round at the All England Club, Osaka has advanced to the third round at each of the first three Grand Slams of the season for only the second time in her career. The first time she achieved the feat was in 2018.

"There are definitely strengths that I can utilize here," Osaka said about playing on grass. "It's interesting 'cause it took me a really long time to figure out the difference between all the clay court tournaments. I feel like here, on my first practice, from Germany to here I can figure out this grass is completely different. I think I'm still adjusting to it a little bit. When I'm playing my opponents on grass, I do feel like I have a little bit, like my game does give me a little bit of benefits."

Wimbledon remains the only Grand Slam where she has never advanced to the fourth round. To get there, she will have to defeat Daria Kasatkina, who needed three sets to defeat Janice Tjen in another second-round match on Wednesday.

Osaka leads the head-to-head 3-0 but this will be their first meeting on grass.