San Francisco Frontiers - Osaka still dreams of glory despite latest Wimbledon flop

Osaka blew a golden opportunity to reach the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time as she was beaten by Russian world number 50 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

The 27-year-old took the first set on Court Two, but she lost her way as Pavlyuchenkova battled back to clinch a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

Osaka is a four-time Grand Slam champion but she has not won a major since 2021 and has still never been beyond the third round at the All England Club.

"Right now I'm just really upset. I wanted to better than I did before. I thought I could make a great run here but clearly not," Osaka said.

Since her triumph at the Australian Open four years ago, she is on a dismal run of 12 successive Grand Slam appearances without reaching the fourth round.

Osaka gave birth to a daughter in July 2023, returning from a 15-month sabbatical for the start of the 2024 season.

Visibly frustrated throughout her post-match press conference after losing on Friday, she was asked if she thought about hanging up her racquet to find happiness elsewhere.

"Yeah. I feel like I'd be kind of crazy to not, but I think right now I have so many things I want to attempt to achieve," she said.

"I feel like while I still have the opportunity to try to do it, I want to, even though I get very upset when I lose, but I think that's my competitive nature. That's also the younger sister syndrome.

"No person wants to feel this way, like, multiple times throughout the year, but tennis players are crazy."

The former world number one, now a lowly 53rd in the WTA rankings, has always struggled on grass and is relishing a return to hard courts.

"In Paris I was very emotional when I sat there (after losing in the first round) and now I don't feel anything. I guess I prefer to feel nothing than everything," she said.

"I'm just going to be a negative human being today. I have nothing positive to say about myself.

"I'm glad to be done with this, and I'm looking forward to the hard courts."

Pavlyuchenkova, 34, reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals in 2016 and the former French Open finalist hopes to emulate that run.

"I felt like I was behind for the majority of the match, so I played point-by-point. I'm incredibly happy because I was mentally tough in the three matches that I have won," the Russian said.

"I'm usually not so good on grass. The majority of you were cheering for Naomi today but it's OK. As I said, I'm mentally tough."

H.Reyes--SFF