Osaka topples Sabalenka to blow Wimbledon draw wide open

LONDON, July 5 : Women's top seed Aryna Sabalenka was knocked out in the fourth round of Wimbledon by an inspired Naomi Osaka on Sunday with the Japanese player blazing to a 6-2 7-6(2) win on Centre Court to blow the women's draw wide open.

With eight Grand Slam titles between them, the blockbuster duel topped the Day Seven bill but it ended up lacking the expected fireworks as 14th seed Osaka dominated.

Sabalenka was left screaming in frustration during a 32-minute opening set as her power game misfired.

The second set was more like the high-octane contest the crowd had expected but a serene Osaka stayed cool to snap Sabalenka's streak of 21 unbeaten tiebreaks in Grand Slams and claim her biggest win since returning to the Tour in 2024 following the birth of daughter Shai.

After netting a backhand on match point, world number one Sabalenka took her anger out on a ball, blasting it high out of the Centre Court.

Osaka's win not only took her into the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time, it left the women's draw intriguingly poised heading into week two with no clear favourite. Next she will face 10th seed Karolina Muchova whose win over fellow Czech Barbora Krejcikova guaranteed a ninth successive first-time women's champion at the All England Club.

"I think it was a really fun match. I'm really grateful for this. Even if I lost, I would still think it was a great match," Osaka said after her first victory on Centre Court.

"I mean 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."

GET DRUNK AND FORGET ABOUT TENNIS

After third-round defeats for defending champion Iga Swiatek and