Osaka dumps out Wimbledon top seed Sabalenka

Women’s top seed Aryna Sabalenka has been ‌knocked out in the fourth round ‌of Wimbledon by an inspired ‌Naomi Osaka with the Japanese four-time grand slam winner blazing to a 6-2 7-6 (7-2) win on Centre ‌Court.

With eight ‌grand slam titles between them, ​the blockbuster duel topped the day seven bill on Sunday 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 ​contest ​the packed ​crowd were anticipating ‌but Osaka stayed cool in the tiebreak to claim her biggest win since returning to the ​Tour following her 2023 maternity ​break.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun on the court,” Osaka said.

“And to do it here, it really means a lot.”

Sabalenka had beaten Osaka in all three of her previous matches with Osaka this year – including at the same stage of the French Open last month.

But this time Sabalenka couldn’t handle Osaka’s 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.

After third-round defeats for defending ‌champion Iga ​Swiatek and second seed Elena Rybakina on Saturday, the door had finally swung wide open for Sabalenka after three successive semi-final runs, but ​she was ‌well below her best.

“Now I want to go and get drunk and forget about tennis,” the 28-year-old said after arriving at her ​press conference minutes after walking off court.

Osaka will next face tenth seed Karolina Muchova, who earlier beat 2024 Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova 7-5, 5-7, 6-3.

Krejcikova was the last remaining of the four previous champions that started the tournament following losses for Serena Williams, Elena Rybakina and Iga Swiatek.

On the men’s side of the draw, Novak Djokovic has added another chapter to his Wimbledon legacy by  battling past Russian qualifier Roman ‌Safiullin 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to earn a record 106th ‌victory at the All England Club to reach the quarter-finals.

The victory moved ‌the 39-year-old clear of his retired rival Roger Federer on the men’s all-time match wins list at the grass court Grand Slam.

The seventh seed will now have another piece of history in his sights as he bids to equal the Swiss great’s haul of eight Wimbledon titles.

“Survive to thrive – that’s how I feel,” Djokovic said during his on-court interview when asked to reflect on week one of the Championships.

“Hopefully the thriving part is coming!”

But it was far from smooth sailing for the seven-time champion under the blazing sun on Centre Court, ‌as he ‌twice ⁠dropped serve with uncharacteristic mistakes, before saving ​two set points at 2-5 down to win the first set in a fiercely-contested tie-break.

World No.132 Safiullin, eyeing a major upset after months out with a hip ⁠injury, continued to test ‌Djokovic ​but crashed his backhand into the net to fall ​behind 2-4 ‌in the second set.

Having found the opening, Djokovic quickly ​doubled his lead in the match with some exquisite serve-and-volley tennis, before his frustrations boiled over ​when ​Safiullin broke and ​snatched the third set to ‌extend his adventure.

After a tight hold to start the fourth set, Djokovic took his level up a notch to complete the win.

“Another hard-fought win. Roman [Safiullin] started very well. He was very aggressive so I didn’t maybe feel as comfortable from the back of the court,” Djokovic added.

“I haven’t felt inferior from back of the court with too many players, to be ​honest, ​throughout my career. Today, it was one of those ​days where I didn’t want to stay in the rally for ‌too long.

“In the end, I managed to find the accuracy and precision on my first serve, which really got me out of trouble in the fourth set.”

Djokovic will next face Canadian third-seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who came through a five-setter against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on No.1 Court.

Auger-Aliassime won 6-7 (7-4), 7-6 (8-6), 6-3, 6-7 (7-2), 6-1 in a meeting between the only two men’s players who had yet to drop a set in the tournament.