Naomi Osaka Stunned By Yulia Putintseva in The First Round of Wimbledon Championships 2019

Published 07/01/2019, 12:08 PM EDT

The second seed tennis marvel from Japan, Naomi Osaka once again encounters a defeat after she lifted her major title in Melbourne. Ten days ago, the Kazakh, Yulia Putintseva thrashed Osaka at Birmingham Classic and once again, she destroys her 7-6(4), 6-2 in the opening round of Wimbledon Championships 2019. With this loss, Naomi Osaka becomes one of the biggest casualties of the day in SW19.

Putintseva could bounce back from an early break down in the opening set and she leveled the match at 3-3. In that game, Osaka was serving well, but her unforced errors gave the World Number 39 an opportunity to break her serve to love. However the second seed came up with some good tennis, but a wide backhand stroke equalized the set.

Article continues below this ad

In between, Putintseva required a hip massage, but everything seemed alright with her racquet skills. Right before the tiebreaker, the World Number two, recovered from a 15-30 trail by a ramming forehand winner for the breaker. In the tiebreaker, Putintseva maintained a lead, but Naomi Osaka tried to be at par with her until 3-3 and Osaka’s wide shots on the tramlines awarded Putintseva the first set.

Naomi Osaka could start strong in the second set, but a wild furore at 3-2 turned out to be a disturbance for the Japanese. The Moscow-born Putintseva challenged a ball which was called out, the ball happened to kiss the line and she held a service break and later consolidated for a 4-2 lead.

The show was not over as Putintseva continued to take a double-break up lead at 5-2. Naomi Osaka seemed anxious and helpless while Yulia was serving for the match, she could save one match point, but after netting the ball on the second one, Yulia Putintseva sailed into the second round.

Article continues below this ad

"The biggest win of her career" 👏@PutintsevaYulia upsets world No.2 Naomi Osaka 7-6(4), 6-2 on Centre Court to book her second round spot #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/PQQYpFsQqu
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 1, 2019

Article continues below this ad

“I have never played on this court, in fact, I have never been on it. It’s a round shape. It is amazing. I went out and did my best, I think I did a great job. I am feeling better on grass, more confident, I feel I am returning as many as I can and hit the first shot with precision,” Yulia Putintseva said on the court after her victory over Naomi Osaka.

World Number two, Naomi Osaka remains title-less since her Australian Open 2019 victory over Petra Kvitova, this year in January.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :

Written by:

Mahalakshmi Murali joined EssentiallySports in 2018 as a tennis author and has gone on to pen more than 1800 engaging articles, probing into various aspects of the sport and its illustrious players. With her expertise on the sport, Mahalakshmi has interviewed stalwarts from the sport such as Serena WIlliams’ coach Patrick Mouratoglou and Kevin Anderson’s physio, Carlos Costa. Equipped with her vast experience and a keen understanding of the sport, Mahalakshmi now co-heads the tennis department.