How Osaka overpowered Sabalenka to reach Wimbledon quarterfinals
Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka beat world number one Aryna Sabalenka for the first time in eight years to advance to her first ever Wimbledon quarterfinals
Osaka defeated Sabalenka in straight sets (6-2, 7-6 [7-2]) on Centre Court during the fourth round of Wimbledon 2026 on Sunday, July 5.
The straight-sets win snapped a three-match losing streak for Osaka against Sabalenka and marked her first victory over the Belarusian since the 2018 US Open.
Despite Sabalenka’s notorious prowess in tiebreaks, Osaka dominated the second-set tiebreak, winning 7-2 to close out the match.
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Speaking after the game, Osaka credited the victory to rediscovering joy on the court, her team’s tactical work.
“It was a really difficult match, but I’ve played her a couple times this year, so I just tried to focus on the things that I’m good at and, yeah, the positives that I could keep I guess thinking about moving forward in the match,” Osaka said during her post-match press conference.
This milestone victory also witnessed Osaka shattering Sabalenka’s incredible streak of winning 21 consecutive Grand Slam tiebreaks, as she will now face Czech 10th seed Karolina Muchova.
