WIMBLEDON, England — After winning two straight Grand Slam titles, Naomi Osaka has now failed to reach the second week at the last two majors.
Osaka, who was ranked No. 1 in the world until last week, lost to Yulia Putintseva 7-6 (4), 6-2 on Monday in the first round at Wimbledon.
The second-seeded Osaka won the US Open last year and the Australian Open this year, but she lost in the third round at the French Open and now the first round at the All England Club.
Osaka had 38 unforced errors on Centre Court, while Putintseva had only seven.
“Honestly, every match is a battle, you never know what’s going to happen, but I was hoping and doing all my best, that’s pretty much all I can do,” Putintseva said. “To go out there and play my best, to do just what I can and then we’ll see what happens. And today I think I did a great job. That’s amazing.”
It was Osaka’s second loss to Putinseva on grass this season. The Japanese player lost to the 24-year-old Kazakh in Birmingham two weeks ago.
Earlier, last year’s Wimbledon men’s finalists both advanced to the second round on the opening day of this year’s tournament.
Simona Halep, a former No. 1 on the women’s tour who is seeded seventh at Wimbledon, advanced despite some pain in her left knee and foot. The Romanian, who called for a trainer after winning the first set, trailed 5-2 in the second set before rallying to beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 7-5.
Third-seeded Karolina Pliskova also advanced, beating Lin Zhu 6-2, 7-6 (4).
Later Monday, 39-year-old Venus Williams was to play 15-year-old Coco Gauff.
Williams is the oldest player in the women’s field. Not only is Gauff the youngest, but the American is also the youngest player in the professional era to reach the main draw at the All England Club by going through qualifying rounds.
Williams had won four of her seven Grand Slam titles by the time Gauff was born.
Credit: Source link