Things just keep getting better for Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon. Not only has she achieved her best result at SW19 by advancing to the fourth round, but she also got to celebrate her daughter Shai’s third birthday in London. Though Osaka had previously expressed her excitement over the occasion, she has now revealed that the day didn’t quite go as planned.

Turns out that Osaka wasn’t too happy with the way her daughter behaved on her birthday. Though their day could have been a little better, it ultimately proved to be a memorable occasion for the family.

“I don’t think I should be telling you this, but she was kind of bad yesterday,” she said during her post-match interview. “So, we tried to take her to the park, but then she needed to go to Timeout. So, we’re gonna try to take her to the park again today. But yeah, it was an awesome birthday. She blew out her candles, she made her wish. I hope her wish is to behave better but yeah, today is a new day for her.”

Osaka and her former partner, American rapper Cordae, had welcomed Shai in July 2023. It is evident that the Japanese is certainly enjoying motherhood, and Shai has become a hugely important part of her life. She had recently expressed her happiness over getting to celebrate her daughter’s birthday in England instead of flying back home after losing early.

“Tomorrow’s my daughter’s birthday,” she had said during her post-match interview on July 1. “I just wanted to be here for longer. I don’t wanna make her get on a plane on her birthday. I was really happy about today.”

It is safe to say that Osaka has been on a roll at Wimbledon this season. She is yet to drop a set and has looked in great touch whenever she has stepped onto the court. She had begun her campaign with a comfortable 6-1, 7-5 victory over Elsa Jacquemot. She followed that up with a dominant display over Anastasia Gasanova and clinched the match 6-3, 6-2.

The World No. 14’s most impressive performance of the tournament arguably came against Daria Kasatkina in the third round. She racked up a crushing 6-1, 6-3 victory in just 66 minutes. But Osaka is likely to face her toughest challenge of the Grand Slam in the fourth round.

She will be locking horns against the winner of the match between Aryna Sabalenka and Jelena Ostapenko. Though Osaka would fancy her chances against Ostapenko, as she has a 3-0 lead over her in the H2H record. But things will get very tricky if she comes up against Sabalenka.

The World No. 1 has a 3-1 lead over Osaka in the H2H record. Notably, all of Sabalenka’s wins in the matchup have come this year. Osaka may have defeated her in their first-ever encounter in 2018, but things have changed drastically since then.

Sabalenka had first got the better of Osaka in the Round of 16 at the Indian Wells Masters. She had then recorded a grueling 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over the Japanese in Madrid. Sabalenka’s final victory of the matchup came at the French Open, where she completed a comfortable 7-5, 6-3 triumph.

Though things will only get tougher for Osaka if she moves into the later stages at Wimbledon, she will definitely be proud of the progress that she has made at the Grand Slam. After all, she isn’t quite a fan of grass courts.

Naomi Osaka opens up on her love-hate relationship with grass

Though Osaka hasn’t been able to rack up positive results on the surface over the years, she has been going very strong this season. She had recently reached the final of the Bad Homburg Open but had to eventually withdraw mid-match against Karolina Muchova due to an issue with her right foot.

These runs of results have definitely helped Osaka in gaining confidence on grass. But her relationship with the surface still remains complicated. She had opened up about it after defeating Elise Mertens in the Round of 16 at the Bad Homburg Open.

“When I was younger, like my first grass season, I injured myself,” she had said on June 23. “I slipped, and it kind of scared me a lot from moving on grass. My relationship with grass, I’m learning to love it a little bit, like clay. But I think everyone says I have a lot of potential on grass and they’ve been saying that over the years. I’m just trying to adjust myself.”

Will Osaka be able to keep her Wimbledon hopes alive in the Round of 16, or will she end up getting knocked out by familiar foes? We will have to wait and see.