{"id":6400,"date":"2026-07-05T19:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-05T19:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6400"},"modified":"2026-07-05T19:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-05T19:40:11","slug":"naomi-osaka-overpowers-aryna-sabalenka-to-reach-the-wimbledon-quarterfinals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6400","title":{"rendered":"Naomi Osaka overpowers Aryna Sabalenka to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
Naomi Osaka of Japan celebrates her victory against Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in their fourth round women\u2019s singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Sunday, July 5, 2026. (AP Photo\/Brian Inganga)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

LONDON \u2014 In a matchup of two of the hardest hitters on tour, Naomi Osaka<\/a> outslugged top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> 6-2, 7-6 (2) to reach the Wimbledon<\/a> quarterfinals for the first time on Sunday.<\/p>

Read more Mitchell Robinson says injury before NBA Finals came from hitting truck amid concern for his brother<\/a><\/p>\n

Sabalenka had beaten Osaka in all three of her previous matches with Osaka this year \u2014 including at the same stage of the French Open last month.<\/p>\n

But this time Sabalenka couldn\u2019t handle Osaka\u2019s pace and flat groundstrokes, which had an even bigger impact than usual as her balls flew through the air faster on the warmest day of the tournament so far.<\/p>\n

The temperature during the match reached 28 degrees Celsius (82 Fahrenheit).<\/p>\n

\u201cShe overpowered me,\u201d Sabalenka said. \u201cI felt like it was incredible level from her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides Paris, Sabalenka also beat Osaka in Indian Wells, California, and Madrid this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat really sucked,\u201d Osaka said. \u201cSo I wanted to like turn it over and I\u2019m really glad I had the opportunity to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it was over, Osaka performed a few fist pumps, let out a brief smile and then placed her racket over her head and spun around in delight to celebrate her first career win on Centre Court.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a long time since I\u2019ve had so much fun on the court,\u201d Osaka said. \u201cAnd to do it here, it really means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Osaka\u2019s first win over a No. 1 player since beating Ash Barty in Beijing in 2019. That was before Osaka, a former No. 1 herself, took breaks from the tour to manage her mental health in 2021 and for maternity leave that resulted in her missing all of 2023.<\/p>\n

Osaka unleashed so much power that, during one point early in the second set, she practically pushed Sabalenka down to the ground.<\/p>\n

When Sabalenka netted a backhand on Osaka\u2019s second match point, she smacked a ball high into the air: \u201cI hit it outside of the stadium, I believe,\u201d Sabalenka said.<\/p>\n

During her on-court interview, Osaka said her mom\u2019s Japanese cooking was \u201cpowering\u201d her victories.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo mom, I would really appreciate another meal tonight,\u201d Osaka said, as her mom watching in the stands responded by forming a heart with her hands.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the second straight Grand Slam in which Sabalenka has failed to reach the latter stages, after a stunning meltdown against Diana Shnaider in the French Open quarterfinals<\/a> last month, after which Sabalenka said she \u201cjust want to quit tennis.\u201d<\/p>\n

This time, Sabalenka said she wanted to go \u201cget completely drunk, forget about tennis, and try to get in better shape.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sabalenka and Osaka have each won four Grand Slam titles and all of their major trophies have come on hard courts \u2014 at the Australian Open and U.S. Open.<\/p>\n

Osaka is coming off the first grass-court final of her career, although she retired from the championship match in Bad Homburg, Germany, last weekend because of a foot injury.<\/p>

Read more Folarin Balogun\u2019s 1-game ban suspended by FIFA, allowing US forward to play vs. Belgium<\/a><\/p>\n

Osaka will next face Karolina Muchova, who beat 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.<\/p>\n

Before the match, Osaka came out in the white kimono she\u2019s been wearing for her walk-ons at Wimbledon \u2014 which was inspired by a character in a Quentin Tarantino movie.<\/p>\n

Toward the end of the first set, one of Sabalenka\u2019s coaches came down from the stands with four freshly strung rackets for her \u2014 presumably at a higher tension to better control Osaka\u2019s pace.<\/p>\n

Osaka set the tone early on with an inside-out backhand winner on her first break point to take a 2-1 lead in the opening set.<\/p>\n

Then in the second-set tiebreaker, a series of errors from Sabalenka put Osaka in command.<\/p>\n

Osaka saved the only two break points she faced and put 87% of her first serves in play \u2014 compared to 69% for Sabalenka.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t play my best, and she played probably her best. Sometimes that happens,\u201d Sabalenka said. \u201cSometimes you can go out there and do everything you can and still lose the match.\u201d<\/p>\n

Osaka also led 8-5 in aces and 21-15 in winners in the match, which lasted less than 1 \u00bd hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat could I do if the person is acing and hitting the lines, just going for her shots without any fear?\u201d Sabalenka said. \u201cShe was just going for it.<\/p>\n

\u201cLevel-wise, today,\u201d Sabalenka added, \u201cI wasn\u2019t world No. 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

Krejcikova\u2019s loss ensures a new women\u2019s champion at Wimbledon for the ninth straight time. She was the only former champion left in the women\u2019s draw after Iga Swiatek, Elena Rybakina and Serena Williams<\/a> all went out earlier.<\/p>\n

No woman has won multiple Wimbledon titles since Williams won her seventh in 2016.<\/p>\n

No. 4 Jessica Pegula also advanced by beating fellow American Iva Jovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.<\/p>\n

Earlier on Centre Court, Novak Djokovic beat 132nd-ranked qualifier Roman Safiullin 7-6 (6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 for his 106th match victory at the All England Club.<\/p>\n

That puts Djokovic one ahead of Roger Federer atop the all-time list for men\u2019s match wins at Wimbledon, although he still trails Martina Navratilova\u2019s 120.<\/p>\n

Djokovic will next play the winner between third-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime and No. 22 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.<\/p>

Read more Australia wins the Women\u2019s T20 World Cup after crushing England in the Lord\u2019s final<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP tennis: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/tennis<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Naomi Osaka outslugged top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 (2) to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nNaomi Osaka overpowers Aryna Sabalenka to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6400\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Naomi Osaka overpowers Aryna Sabalenka to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Naomi Osaka outslugged top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 (2) to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=6400\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-05T19:40:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/bdf76171301114fa2fd2883b007fccae-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6400#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6400\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Naomi Osaka overpowers Aryna Sabalenka to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-05T19:40:11+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6400\"},\"wordCount\":948,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6400#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/ecd009b52e30066bbd4e6720120284bd-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6400#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6400\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=6400\",\"name\":\"Naomi Osaka overpowers Aryna Sabalenka to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals - 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