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IMAGES from Day 3 of the Wimbledon Championships, at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, on Wednesday.
Naomi Osaka's goal to improve her grasscourt game will have to wait for at least another 12 months after her Wimbledon comeback stalled in the second round following a 6-4, 6-1 walloping by American Emma Navarro that mercifully lasted only 58 minutes.
When the four-times Grand Slam champion returned to the tour in January following a 15-month maternity break, top of her wish list was to "do much better on clay and grass".
Unfortunately for the Japanese superstar, she failed to match even her career-best third-round showings at the French Open and now at Wimbledon.
She put in a rousing performance at Roland Garros as she almost pushed world number one and eventual champion Iga Swiatek over the edge, squandering a match point before perishing in the second round.
A month later, however, her second-round performance under a closed Centre Court roof was as lousy as the British weather as her game fell apart against the 19th seed after she produced four erratic errors to get broken in the seventh game of the first set.
Navarro, after sealing the first set with a crunching crosscourt winner, did not let her opponent's status distract her from the job at hand and she kept up the relentless pressure in the second set as she raced into a 4-0 lead.
The popular Osaka, competing at Wimbledon this week for the first time since 2019, was given a roaring ovation from the crowd when she finally registered a game to avoid a second-set whitewash but that was only a brief reprieve and she bowed out by slapping a forehand long.
"Naomi didn't do much wrong but she didn't do much right either, too many errors and Navarro was on fire," nine-times Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova said while commentating.
As Navarro celebrated her best-ever run at the All England Club, the 143,000 pounds ($182,150) she picked up for reaching the third round here for the first time will be considered small change for a player who is the daughter of an American billionaire.
"Naomi is obviously a great player. It’s great to have her back on tour and she’s playing some great tennis since she's been back but obviously I wanted to get the win today and was able to play some good tennis," Navarro told the crowd in a courtside interview.
"It was my first time on Centre Court here at Wimbledon, it doesn’t really feel real.
"I’ve been having a lot of fun on grass. It’s kind of been the theme of my time on tour so far, just trying to enjoy myself and today was no exception."
Raducanu storms into third round
Emma Raducanu powered her way into the third round with a comfortable 6-1, 6-2 victory against Belgian Elise Mertens.
Raducanu has struggled for fitness since her stunning US Open triumph in 2021 but looked at the top of her game as she pummeled Mertens into submission from the baseline, shouting and fist-pumping almost every point won.
The British wildcard raced into a 5-0 lead against the 28-year-old under the closed roof of Court One which was packed with a passionate home crowd.
Mertens did get on the scoreboard to avoid a bagel, but that was the only positive for her as Raducanu clinched the first set.
The Briton then broke in the third game of the second set with a brilliant backhand across court and broke again to go 4-1 up.
Mertens, ranked 33 in the world, held to love in the next game but could not stop Raducanu bringing up two match points with an ace and then winning the first of them after the Belgian went long.
It's the first time Raducanu has reached a third round of a Grand Slam since her title win at Flushing Meadows and raises tentative hopes of a first British women's singles triumph at Wimbledon since Virginia Wade in 1977.
Gauff crushes qualifier Todoni
Coco Gauff did not look at her imperious best under the roof on Wimbledon's Court One on Wednesday but she was always in control of an error-strewn second-round 6-2, 6-1 victory over Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni.
The US Open champion slipped and fell twice on the slick court and muttered to herself during the one hour six minute match against an opponent ranked 140 places below her.
"I do think I could have played cleaner at some points but overall I'm happy to have got through to the third round," Gauff said in an interview on court.
Second seed Gauff, a crowd favourite at Wimbledon after announcing her arrival on the big stage with a fourth-round run as a 15-year-old five years ago, produced 16 unforced errors in the short match and managed to land only 43% of her first serves.
But her nervous opponent, at 19 six months Gauff's junior, hit 23 unforced errors and could not find her range against the fleet-footed American, who wrapped up the match with a drop shot that Todoni could only send wide.
Gauff, who suffered a humiliating first-round exit last year at the hands of compatriot Sofia Kenin, said she had learned from that disappointment and from her triumph at the U.S. Open to manage expectations and emotions.
The draw has opened up for Gauff after the first-day withdrawals of Belarusians Aryna Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion, and former world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka.
She will next play British qualifier Sonay Kartel, who beat France's Clara Burel.
Qualifier Kartal reaches third round
Qualifier Sonay Kartal wowed the home crowd, punching her way to a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 Wimbledon second-round victory over France's Clara Burel, ranked 253 places above her.
The win on a raucous Court Three lined the 22-year-old up for a third-round contest against another crowd pleaser in second-seeded American Coco Gauff.
"It’s going to be a tough match. It’s going to be a fun match, and I hope I can do the British crowd proud," Kartal said on court after clinching the match with a stop volley.
Kartal, ranked 298, beat 29th seed Sorana Cirstea of Romania in the first round and said she had never expected to compete because of injury and illness at the start of the year.
