Naomi Osaka overpowers Aryna Sabalenka to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals

LONDON (AP) — In a matchup of two of the hardest hitters on tour, Naomi Osaka outslugged top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 (2) to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time on Sunday.

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.

The temperature for the match on Centre Court reached 28 degrees Celsius (82 Fahrenheit).

It was Osaka’s first win over a No. 1 player since beating Ash Barty in Beijing in 2019. That was before Osaka, a former No. 1 herself, took a breaks from the tour to manage her mental health in 2021 and for maternity leave that resulted in her missing all of 2023.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press