Key Points
- Naomi Osaka beat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 (2) for her first Wimbledon quarterfinal.
- It was Osaka's first win over Sabalenka since 2018 and ended Sabalenka's 21-match Slam tiebreak streak.
- Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula also reached the quarterfinals and now meet each other.
- Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic advanced on the men's side.
Naomi Osaka delivered the fourth round's marquee upset, beating world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 (2) on Centre Court on July 5 to reach her first Wimbledon quarterfinal. The 14th seed ran away with the opening set and closed the tiebreak 7-2, handing Sabalenka her first straight-sets Grand Slam loss since the 2020 US Open.
It was Osaka's first win over Sabalenka in eight years — since the 2018 US Open — after she had lost all three of their meetings earlier this season, and it ended the longest tiebreak winning streak of the Open era, Sabalenka's run of 21 straight. A four-time major champion who had never been past the third round at Wimbledon, Osaka has turned the grass she long struggled on into her breakthrough surface, and with the top seed gone she now sits in the most open quarter of the draw.
Her win capped a brutal weekend for the women's top seeds. A day after No. 29 Alexandra Eala stunned defending champion Iga Świątek, Sabalenka's exit stripped the draw of its biggest names. Coco Gauff came from a set down to beat Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 for her own first Wimbledon quarterfinal, Jessica Pegula beat Iva Jovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, and Karolina Muchova edged Barbora Krejčíková 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 and will play Osaka in the quarterfinals, while Gauff and Pegula meet in the other bottom-half tie — a run that keeps the American contingent in the title race.
The men's favorites had a quieter day. Top seed Jannik Sinner beat Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3, 7-6, 6-3, and Novak Djokovic came through 7-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 against Roman Safiullin. Felix Auger-Aliassime outlasted Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in five sets, and Jan-Lennard Struff advanced when Hubert Hurkacz retired hurt. Sinner faces Struff in the quarterfinals; Djokovic meets Auger-Aliassime. With the men's seeds holding and the women's draw torn open — a fortnight that began with Carlos Alcaraz withdrawing and seeds falling early — the two halves of this Wimbledon could not look more different.
Source: WTA, ESPN, and CBS Sports.
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