LONDON — Naomi Osaka arrived at Wimbledon this week dressed in a kimono-inspired outfit paying tribute to her favorite character from Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Kill Bill,’ and she closed out her week by dismantling top seed Aryna Sabalenka in commanding fashion.
The Japanese 14th seed played the kind of tennis that earned her four Grand Slam titles, cruising to a 6-2, 7-6(2) victory to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the very first time. Sabalenka’s exit only added to the growing chaos in the women’s bracket.
Osaka’s win comes on the heels of third-round losses for defending champion Iga Swiatek and 2022 winner Elena Rybakina, meaning all three of the top women’s seeds have been eliminated. With Barbora Krejcikova also falling in the fourth round to fellow Czech Karolina Muchova on Sunday, Wimbledon is now guaranteed to crown a first-time champion for the ninth year in a row.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic kept his bid alive for a record-tying eighth Wimbledon title, though the 39-year-old was candid about his dissatisfaction with his performance. He defeated Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin 7-6(6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a match that was far from polished — but it did earn him a historic milestone, surpassing Swiss legend Roger Federer with his 106th Wimbledon match win, a new men’s record.
“To be honest, I haven’t felt really great on the court, so I was relieved to get out of it and get a win,” Djokovic said after the match. “Satisfaction and enjoyment weren’t part of today’s win.”
Despite the rough outing, Djokovic has now advanced to his 17th Wimbledon quarter-final. Standing between him and a potential semi-final clash with defending champion and top seed Jannik Sinner is Canadian third seed Felix Auger-Aliassime. Sinner had little trouble in his own fourth-round match, dispatching Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki 6-3, 7-6(0), 6-3.
Auger-Aliassime earned his spot in the quarter-finals the hard way, outlasting Spain’s last remaining player, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, in a grueling four-hour, 26-minute five-set battle that concluded with a heated exchange between the two players at the net. The final score read 6-7(4), 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-7(2), 6-1.
Sinner has yet to face a seeded opponent at this year’s tournament, and that won’t change in the quarter-finals either. He’ll meet veteran Jan-Lennard Struff, who reached the last eight at a Grand Slam for the first time in his career — on his 47th attempt. The 36-year-old German, ranked 74th in the world, was trailing Hubert Hurkacz by two sets when the Polish player was forced to retire due to a left hip injury.
“First of all, I would wish Hubi a speedy recovery,” Struff said. “It was tough to celebrate on the court because obviously I feel sorry for him. But I’m very happy because it’s a huge achievement for me. I’m 36, first quarters, amazing.”
The marquee match of Day Seven at the All England Club was without question the showdown between Sabalenka and Osaka — two 28-year-olds, each holding four Grand Slam titles, all earned on hard courts. The warm and sunny conditions set the stage for what many expected to be a clash of heavy hitters.
The two had not faced each other in nearly eight years following Osaka’s victory over Sabalenka on her way to the 2018 U.S. Open title. When they finally met again this season, Sabalenka had gotten the better of Osaka three times, including at the French Open.
Saturday’s rematch, however, was a different story. A composed Osaka overpowered Sabalenka with relentless precision and power, leaving the top seed visibly frustrated on Centre Court. Rather than the expected fireworks between two big hitters, it was a one-sided affair — Osaka’s biggest win since returning from maternity leave in 2024.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun on the court. To do it here, it really means a lot. I lost to her like three times in a row, so that really sucked. So I wanted to turn it over,” Osaka said.
When asked about her slightly more subdued entrance outfit compared to earlier in the week, Osaka explained: “I actually really wanted to focus on the match. So that was me being very tame. I kind of want to focus on my tennis now, so I might dial back a little bit.”
For Sabalenka, the defeat was another painful chapter at Wimbledon, following three consecutive semi-final losses at the tournament. After the final point, she sent a ball sailing over the roof in frustration before heading off court.
“Now I want to go and get drunk and forget about tennis,” Sabalenka told reporters shortly after leaving the court.
Osaka will next face 10th seed Muchova, who edged out 2024 champion Krejcikova 7-5, 5-7, 6-3 in a close contest.
In other women’s action, five American players made it to the fourth round — the most since 2002. Two of them squared off on Court One, where fourth seed Jessica Pegula used her experience to school 18-year-old Iva Jovic in match management, winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Pegula, who has now matched her best-ever Wimbledon run, could potentially face another American in the next round if Coco Gauff defeats Belinda Bencic.
