Naomi Osaka is through to the fourth round of the Wimbledon Championships for the first time in her career after claiming an impressive 6-1, 6-3 win over Daria Kasatkina on Friday.
It has been a special week for Osaka, who also celebrated her daughter’s third birthday on Thursday and joked about how the memorable occasion panned out.
Naomi Osaka Shares Amusing Update About Daughter’s Third Birthday
Osaka is being accompanied by her daughter, Shai, at the Wimbledon Championships. Following her second-round win, Osaka had joked that she was nervous about getting eliminated in the second round and celebrating her daughter’s birthday on a plane. She also said she would take her daughter to the park after practice for her birthday.
After her win over Kasatkina, Osaka was asked about her daughter’s birthday and jokingly revealed that she had to cut the celebrations short.
“I don’t think I should be telling you this, but she was kind of bad yesterday. We tried to take her to the park, but then she needed to go to time-out, so we’re going to try to take her to the park again today. It was an awesome birthday. She blew out her candles. She made a wish. I hope her wish is to behave better, but if not, today’s a new day for her,” Osaka joked during her on-court post-match interview.
Osaka, who has often credited her daughter for being an inspiration in her return to tennis, is enjoying an impressive year on the court. The 28-year-old made a first-ever fourth-round appearance at the French Open and has now secured her place in the fourth round of Wimbledon for the first time.
Going into her fourth-round match at the All England Club, Osaka holds a win-loss record of 19-7 in 2026. She also reached her first-ever grass-court final on the eve of Wimbledon, retiring mid-match against Karolína Muchová in the title clash at the Bad Homburg Open.
Osaka started her Wimbledon campaign with a straight-sets win over Elsa Jacquemot. She then comfortably dispatched Anastasia Gasanova before continuing her impressive run of form against Kasatkina.
The four-time Grand Slam champion has been on top of her service game at Wimbledon and has been broken just twice across her three matches.
Next up for Naomi Osaka is a fourth-round clash at Wimbledon against either Aryna Sabalenka or Jeļena Ostapenko. Osaka has already played Sabalenka thrice this year, pushing the World No. 1 to the limit on all three occasions. She also holds a 3-0 head-to-head lead against Ostapenko.
