Naomi Osaka suffered another disappointing result as she suffered defeat at the Wimbledon Championships.
The 27-year-old produced two impressive victories at SW19 to reach the third round for the third time in her career.
She took the experienced Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for a spot in the Wimbledon last 16, and the pair engaged in an exciting back-and-forth battle on court two.
Despite Naomi Osaka taking the opening set, it was the Russian who prevailed in three sets to advance to the next round.
Photo by Robert Prange/Getty Images
Osaka has reached the third round at Wimbledon on three occasions, but her wait to reach the round of 16 continues.
After losing the first set, Pavlyuchenkova took control of the match by taking the ball early from the baseline and playing with increased aggression.
Osaka fought until the very end but ultimately she came up short against Pavlyuchenkova, who will play Britain’s Sonay Kartal in the next round.
Post-match Osaka was extremely disappointed in herself, but she was also very upset with her media coverage. She expressed her displeasure with the amount of focus on the sadness she feels in the press conference after a loss.
“Why is it every time I do a press conference after a loss the ESPN’s ad blogs clip it and put it up?,” she wrote on social media platform Threads.
“Why don’t they clip my press conferences after I win? Why push the narrative that I am always sad?”
Photo by Tim Clayton/Getty ImagesNaomi Osaka’s on an unwanted streak after third round loss at Wimbledon
Osaka’s defeat at Wimbledon means she has yet to go beyond the third round at Wimbledon.
The four-time Grand Slam winner lost at that stage to Venus Williams in 2017, Angelique Kerber in 2018 and now Pavlyuchenkova in 2025.
There is an area of concern for the former world number one, who has also lost her last six three-set matches on tour. Post-match, a forlorn Osaka expressed how she felt after a crushing defeat.
“In Paris, I was very emotional,” she said. “Now I don’t feel anything, so I guess I’d prefer to feel nothing than everything.
“It’s not like I can really even be mad at myself. I was thinking about the break points that I had. She hit some really good serves. Then she hit a backhand. I can’t really do that much about it.
“Obviously I’m still going to beat myself up a little bit. I’m just going to be a negative human being today. I’m so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I’m working on.”
AloJapan.com