July 04, 2025
Naomi Osaka's Ranking: Naomi Osaka may feel more at ease on grass courts now. But once again, her Wimbledon journey ends in the third round. On Friday, she lost 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
After the match, Osaka admitted she was disappointed. She said she genuinely believed she could perform well. She had hoped to go deeper in the tournament this time.
"I really wanted to do better than my past performances," Osaka said. "Honestly, I was trying so hard out there."
When asked if there was anything positive she could take from the grass-court season, Osaka responded with honesty.
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"Today, I’m just feeling like a negative person," she said. "I’m sorry. I don’t have anything good to say about myself right now. That’s something I’m still working on."
Naomi Osaka is a former World No. 1. She’s currently ranked 50th worldwide. She has won four Grand Slam titles — twice each at the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. All of them came on hard courts.
Coming into this year’s Wimbledon, Osaka had lost three of her last four matches at the All England Club. Her career record there stood at 5 wins and 4 losses.
Her best performance at Wimbledon was reaching the third round in 2017 and 2018. She didn’t play the tournament in 2021, 2022, or 2023.
Earlier this week, after a win, Osaka opened up about her struggles on grass. She shared that for years, she played with fear on this surface. The fear came from a knee injury she suffered nearly ten years ago after slipping on grass.
"Over time, that fear started to grow with age," she said. "It almost froze me in a way."
But now, she feels things are changing. "I’m slowly getting past that fear," she added. "I’m trying to open up and play freely on grass. I think it’s working. I feel like I’m moving quite well now."
At 4-all in the third set on Friday, the momentum shifted. Pavlyuchenkova won eight of the last ten points. She held her serve to love and then broke Osaka in the final game. That break came with help from three unforced forehand errors by Osaka.
After the match, Pavlyuchenkova addressed the crowd on Court No. 2. “Most of you were supporting Naomi, and that’s totally fine,” she said. She had just turned 34 the day before. “I’m strong mentally, so it didn’t affect me. In fact, it gave me more energy.”
Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 53rd in the world, was the French Open finalist in 2021. With her win on Friday, she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time in nearly a decade. The last time she made it this far was back in 2016, when she reached the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Osaka is ready to move on. She’s shifting her focus to the upcoming hard-court season in North America. It’s the lead-up to the U.S. Open, which begins on August 24.
“I’m honestly relieved this part is over,” she said. “Now I’m really looking forward to playing on hard courts again.”
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Naomi Osaka is a former World No. 1. She’s currently ranked 50th worldwide. She has won four Grand Slam titles — twice each at the U.S. Open and the Australian Open. All of them came on hard courts.
Coming into this year’s Wimbledon, Osaka had lost three of her last four matches at the All England Club. Her career record there stood at 5 wins and 4 losses.
Her best performance at Wimbledon was reaching the third round in 2017 and 2018. She didn’t play the tournament in 2021, 2022, or 2023.
Earlier this week, after a win, Osaka opened up about her struggles on grass. She shared that for years, she played with fear on this surface. The fear came from a knee injury she suffered nearly ten years ago after slipping on grass.
"Over time, that fear started to grow with age," she said. "It almost froze me in a way."
READ ALSO
But now, she feels things are changing. "I’m slowly getting past that fear," she added. "I’m trying to open up and play freely on grass. I think it’s working. I feel like I’m moving quite well now."
At 4-all in the third set on Friday, the momentum shifted. Pavlyuchenkova won eight of the last ten points. She held her serve to love and then broke Osaka in the final game. That break came with help from three unforced forehand errors by Osaka.
After the match, Pavlyuchenkova addressed the crowd on Court No. 2. “Most of you were supporting Naomi, and that’s totally fine,” she said. She had just turned 34 the day before. “I’m strong mentally, so it didn’t affect me. In fact, it gave me more energy.”
READ ALSO
Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 53rd in the world, was the French Open finalist in 2021. With her win on Friday, she reached the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time in nearly a decade. The last time she made it this far was back in 2016, when she reached the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Osaka is ready to move on. She’s shifting her focus to the upcoming hard-court season in North America. It’s the lead-up to the U.S. Open, which begins on August 24.
“I’m honestly relieved this part is over,” she said. “Now I’m really looking forward to playing on hard courts again.”
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