Naomi Osaka immediately disagrees with interviewer after Wimbledon win | Tennis | Sport

Naomi Osaka eased into the third round at Wimbledon but rejected the idea that she played well in her win over Anastasia Gasanova. The four-time Grand Slam winner claimed a 6-3, 6-2 win over her 27-year-old opponent and now has a day off before returning to action.

The former world number one prevailed in straight sets and was never at risk of losing a service game as she converted three of her six break points to progress from the second round. She is now one step away from her best-ever Wimbledon outing, having never gone beyond the third round, and faced with a compliment from on-court interviewer Jenny Drummond.

Osaka wanted more time to reflect on her performance but identified some issues she wanted to work out in practice on Thursday.

“Naomi, very well played,” Drummond said. “It’s not always easy to play someone you haven’t met before, a qualifier who has played a few matches to get into the second round. How would you rate your performance out there today?”

“I mean, I don’t rate my performance, I feel like I have to take a little bit of time before that. My current emotion is I’m just happy I was able to win and she was playing amazing so I’m glad that I was able to do it in straight sets. I felt pretty tight, so I wasn’t covering the ball as well as I could have. She was dominating me in some rallies, so tomorrow I just want to practice a little bit more.”

Osaka admitted she was nervous on the court against Gasanova. She was under pressure to secure victory for more than just earning her place in the next round, however.

The 14-seed wanted to make sure that she didn’t ruin her daughter’s birthday with an early exit. Her daughter, Shai, will be celebrating her third birthday on Thursday.

“Yes, well, tomorrow is my daughter’s birthday,” she explained. “I just wanted to be here for longer.

“I don’t want to make her get on a plane on her birthday. I was really happy about today. Obviously, I have to practice in the morning, but maybe after go around the park. She loves making friends. Probably do that.”

Osaka will face Indonesia’s Janice Tjen or Australia’s Daria Kasatkina on Friday for a place in the fourth round. The 28-year-old has previously made the third round on three occasions in 2017, 2018 and 2025