Osaka seeks to break Sabalenka spell as Wimbledon’s fourth round begins
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LONDON, July 4 : Wimbledon’s fourth round begins on Sunday with women’s world number one Aryna Sabalenka taking on Naomi Osaka, while men’s top seed Jannik Sinner goes up against high-flying Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki.
TOP WOMEN’S MATCH: NAOMI OSAKA V ARYNA SABALENKA
Japan’s Osaka will be hoping it will be fourth time lucky when she faces Sabalenka, having lost all three of their meetings this year – at Indian Wells, Madrid and the French Open.
Prior to 2026, the pair had not crossed paths for over seven years, with Osaka winning their first-ever clash en route to her maiden Grand Slam triumph at the U.S. Open in 2018.
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“She’s the number one player in the world. If there is someone I had to lose to, I would pick that ranking position,” the world number 14 told reporters.
“If anything, I would say I learned from all of those matches, so hopefully I can apply (that).”
Osaka added that playing the Belarusian on grass could be the difference.
“My confidence is pretty high. For me, I know what my grass court tennis looks like. It gives me a pretty stable mindset going into the match no matter who I play,” she said after her win over Daria Kasatkina.
“I also don’t really have as many doubts as I did on clay. Maybe it would be a little bit better for me on grass.”
Sabalenka, meanwhile, is cautious about the contest despite her recent wins over Osaka.
“Always been a tricky match. She’s very aggressive player… every time she plays me, she’s more focused,” Sabalenka said.
“Every time it’s a battle. Every time it’s high-level matches. Super excited to play her.”
TOP MEN’S MATCH: JANNIK SINNER V SHINTARO MOCHIZUKI
Japanese qualifier Mochizuki, ranked 151st in the world, came into Wimbledon after a string of tour-level losses.
But a return to the All England Club, where he won the junior Wimbledon title in 2019, reignited the 23-year-old’s competitive fires as he raced into the round of 16 in his best Grand Slam campaign to date.
With cerebral tactics that thrive on grass, Mochizuki fought back from a set down to clinch a memorable victory over 23rd seed Rafael Jodar in the third round, throwing off the Spaniard with sprints to the net and flat groundstrokes.
Mochizuki’s next opponent, world number one Sinner, took notice of the qualifier’s performance.
“He’s a very good player, especially on grass. His ball is very low, so it helps a lot. Seems like a very, very aggressive player,” Sinner said.
“Very dangerous player. I try to be as prepared as I can.”
Mochizuki said his run of good form has surprised even himself.
“It’s a strange feeling to play Jannik at Wimbledon, especially now this year. I was not winning much before coming here, and I don’t know how I have been winning matches here,” he said.
GAUFF GOES BIG ON SERVE
Coco Gauff’s struggles with her serve are well documented, but ahead of her fourth-round meeting with Belinda Bencic, the American said she has stopped worrying about landing her serves and is instead aiming to give it all she has.
“I feel like most of the time when my first serve does go in, I’m getting a weaker reply,” said Gauff, who has won her last three meetings with Swiss Bencic and is aiming for a place in the Wimbledon quarter-finals for the first time.
“I think it’s much easier to start the points off when you’re on the offensive than if you just get it in and you’re hoping the girl misses. At this level, it’s not going to happen, especially now in the second week.”
WIMBLEDON ORDER OF PLAY ON SUNDAY (prefix number denotes seeding)
CENTRE COURT (Play begins at 1230 GMT)
Roman Safiullin (Russia) v 7-Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
1-Aryna Sabalenka (Belarus) v 14-Naomi Osaka (Japan)
1-Jannik Sinner (Italy) v Shintaro Mochizuki (Japan)
COURT NUMBER ONE (Play begins at 1200 GMT)
4-Jessica Pegula (U.S.) v 16-Iva Jovic (U.S.)
3-Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada) v 22-Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Spain)
11-Belinda Bencic (Switzerland) v 7-Coco Gauff (U.S.)
COURT NUMBER TWO (Play begins at 1000 GMT)
Doubles TBA
10-Karolina Muchova (Czech Republic) v Barbora Krejcikova (Czech Republic)
Hubert Hurkacz (Poland) v Jan-Lennard Struff (Germany)
Source: Reuters
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