Naomi Osaka is having a tough time. Before arriving at Wimbledon, she started the year strong by reaching the final of the WTA 250 Auckland. Unfortunately, an abdominal injury forced her to retire early. A bright spot came in early May when she won the WTA 125 title at L’Open 35 de Saint Malo. This was her first championship in four years. Despite this win, her Grand Slam run before Wimbledon was rocky. She reached the third round of the Australian Open but had to retire due to injury. Then came a first-round exit at the French Open, where she struggled on clay.

On Friday, the four-time Grand Slam champ faced a tough test from Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the third round. The 27-year-old took the first set on Court Two. But Pavlyuchenkova battled back, winning 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. It’s a hard pill to swallow for the tennis mom who’s been working hard to regain her form since returning to the tour in 2024.

Later, tennis journalist Bastien Fachan shared his thoughts on X: “One of the greatest anomalies in tennis remains: Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, is still yet to reach the second week of a Grand Slam outside of hard courts.” But is that really true?

Maybe it is. Naomi Osaka has always found Wimbledon her toughest Grand Slam. Unlike her multiple hard-court titles, she’s only reached the third round here three times (2017, 2018, and now 2025). She’s never gone further. It’s a recurring hurdle. One fan even wrote on X, “She finds a way to lose.” Ouch!

Just days ago, Osaka had expressed optimism about hard courts. “When I was younger, I had no fear. I think when you are young, you fear nothing, and that’s one of the really cool things about it. But with age fear kind of crept along and, I guess, paralysed me in a way. Now I’m kind of just getting over that and trying to spread my wings on grass. I think it is working, and I think I am moving pretty well. Yeah, I just hope that in years to come and hopefully this year I can do a lot better in this tournament…Definitely this year I feel a lot more comfortable moving on grass.”

After winning her first two matches in straight sets, hope flickered. But Pavlyuchenkova ended her run in a three-set thriller. Now, fans can’t help but feel the sting of watching a four-time Grand Slam champ struggle to break through at the majors.

Fans express concern over Naomi Osaka’s early exit

Following her defeat, one fan wrote, “With her style of tennis she should get a better result. But it feels like too much negativity within herself.” Since her 2021 Australian Open triumph four years ago, Osaka has endured a rough patch—12 straight Grand Slam appearances without reaching the fourth round. She’s struggled to get past Round 2 or 3 across all surfaces. Another fan noted, “Or a 4th round of a major since her most recent major title win.”

Some fans dig deeper into her struggles. One wrote, “Not an anomaly. She severely benefitted from the transitional period in the WTA whether people accept it or not. Her game has always had way too many weaknesses to be a consistent stay at the top of the game—footwork, consistency, return, mental strength….” Still, during her peak, Naomi Osaka faced fierce competition.

Her first major win came at the 2018 US Open, famously beating Serena Williams in the final. She followed that with the 2019 Australian Open title over Petra Kvitova, securing back-to-back Slams and the No. 1 ranking. In 2020, she claimed her second US Open, rallying from a set down against Victoria Azarenka. Her fourth and latest Slam came at the 2021 Australian Open, where she defeated Jennifer Brady.

One fan summed it up simply: “Grass and clay just don’t hit the same for her.” Osaka’s stats back that up—hard courts are her strongest, where she won all four Grand Slams. Clay has been tougher, but 2025 saw a breakthrough with her first-ever clay title at the WTA 125 L’Open 35 de Saint-Malo. After returning from maternity leave in 2024, injuries, including a back problem, cut her season short.

Still, she showed promise with two quarterfinals and a tough three-set match against Iga Swiatek at the French Open, even holding a match point—a sign her clay game is improving. Grass courts remain a challenge. After the match, Osaka said she was upset: “I actually thought I could play well, like, in general,” hoping to “make a deep run here.” She added, “I wanted to do better than I did before. Also, I felt like I was trying so hard.”

Asked about positives from the grass season, she kept it honest, “I’m just going to be a negative human being today. I’m so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I’m working on.”

In the end, Naomi Osaka is still working hard to regain the form that once made her world No. 1. Will she rise above these challenges and rejoin tennis’s elite? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, don’t miss a moment of the action—catch all the live updates from the Championships with EssentiallySports!