Courtesy: Google
The Japanese International Naomi Osaka was left in grief after she was defeated by Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round of Wimbledon. The former world No. 1 was yet again disappointed by herself after not managing to qualify for the fourth round in the tournament. The 27-year-old was the favourite to win the match, however things did not go her way as she lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova by a scoreline of 3-6 6-4 6-4.
Naomi Osaka was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the WTA for 25 weeks, the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles category. Osaka has won seven WTA Tour-level singles titles, including four majors: two each at the Australian Open and the US Open, the first Japanese player to win a major singles title. She exclaimed after the match with Pavlyuchenkova that she had nothing positive to say about today and that she's just going to be negative about the performance today.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova a step away from reaching Wimbledon quarter-finals in nine years
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who is ranked 53rd currently in the singles category, was the 2021 runner-up at the French Open. Her marvellous display of valour & determination to win against former world No. 1 Naomi Osaka, moved her into the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time since she was a quarter-finalist nine years ago. The Russian International has previously won twelve singles titles on the WTA Tour.
Speaking about her performance against Osaka, Pavlyuchenkova made a remark that, "A majority of you were cheering for Naomi, but that's ok," she told the crowd at Court No.2. "I'm mentally tough, so that didn't bother me at all. The opposite: It gave me energy," she added. In the fourth round in Wimbledon, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova will be facing either Diane Parry or Britain’s Sonay Kartal. It will be interesting to see who will win in this all-important fixture.
