
Imago
Jul 5, 2026; London, United Kingdom; Naomi Osaka (JPN) waves to the crowd after her match against Aryna Sabalenka (not pictured) on day seven of The Championships Wimbledon 2026 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

Imago
Jul 5, 2026; London, United Kingdom; Naomi Osaka (JPN) waves to the crowd after her match against Aryna Sabalenka (not pictured) on day seven of The Championships Wimbledon 2026 at All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Naomi Osaka finally has an answer to Aryna Sabalenka. The 14th seed beat the world No. 1 6-2, 7-6 to reach her first Wimbledon quarter-final, snapping a run in which Sabalenka had won all three of their previous meetings this season, including at Roland Garros just a month earlier.
Asked what had suddenly clicked for her on the grass, Osaka pointed straight to her team, with a special mention for her coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, who previously worked with Iga Swiatek.
“The big Polish man, shout out Tomasz,” she said during the on-court interview. “Shout out my team, Mati, Jacob, Robbie who’s at home probably crying and watching this. My team is the best team ever. I have so much fun with them. I learned so much, and I’m so grateful that they’re on this journey with me.”
The win extended what is already Osaka’s best season on grass and clay combined, having reached her first grass-court final in Bad Homburg just before Wimbledon. It also showed there was a change in her game that Wiktorowski, who has been working with her since last summer, has definitely helped her break on a surface that had eluded her for years.
This is a developing story…
