No end in sight for Osaka’s slump
No. 2 seed ousted; Canada’s ‘AA’ wins Wimbledon opener
Naomi Osaka knows the secret to her meteoric rise to tennis’ summit was her ability to enjoy herself on the court. By the same token, her slump has drained every bit of fun from her game.
Her first-round Wimbledon exit to Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva was one of the tournament’s major shocks Monday and she was left close to tears in an emotional news conference as she tried to put into words how her form has deserted her.
Having thrust herself into the limelight by winning back-to-back Grand Slam titles at the U.S. and Australian opens, the pressure and scrutiny that come with being among the sport’s biggest stars has seemingly taken its toll on the 21-year-old.
At times in her 7-6 (4), 6-2 defeat, the second seed looked visibly despondent as the attacking game that had taken her to No. 1 in the world delivered little more than a flurry of unforced errors on Centre Court.
When she was asked by reporters if her new-found fame had been difficult to get used to, she cut the conversation short.
“Can I leave? I feel like I’m about to cry,” she said.
Having only reached one semifinal since lifting the Australian Open trophy in January, the coming weeks will lead to head-scratching analysis from Osaka as she tries to rediscover the missing ingredients from her game.
“The key for me was just, like, having fun, I guess, like learning how to have fun, kind of taking pressure off myself. I hope I can somehow find a way to do that,” she said.
In another upset, 15-year-old American Cori Gauff caused one of the biggest shocks in Wimbledon history by dispatching Venus Williams 6-4, 6-4. Williams, 39, is considered Wimbledon royalty, having won the singles title five times, including twice before Gauff was born. But Gauff, the youngest player to qualify for the main draw in the professional era, made a mockery of the 24 years and 269 ranking spots that separate her from Williams.
On the men’s side, tennis fans who saw Montreal’s Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Vancouver’s Vasek Pospisil in an all-Canadian first-round clash might look back on it as an “I-was-there” moment.
Auger-Aliassime had never won a Grand Slam match despite being the No. 19 seed in his Wimbledon debut and was touted this week as a future world No. 1 by American great John McEnroe.
The 18-year-old opened with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3 win to become the first man born in 2000 or later to win a Grand Slam match.
With a damaging serve, silky smooth movement and easy power from the baseline, the Canadian has rocketed up the rankings.
Auger-Aliassime said it was a relief to get his first Grand Slam win, but reckoned title talk was “crazy.”
“I’m not saying I’m here to lose, but if I can go all the way, I’ll go all the way,” he said.
Auger-Aliassime plays 20-yearold Corentin Moutet next.
Also, No. 15 seed Milos Raonic beat India’s Prajnesh Gunneswaran 7-6 (1), 6-4, 6-2.
In other Wimbledon news:
■ Young guns Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev suffered shocking first-round defeats as the sixth and seventh seeds.
■ Defending champion Novak Djokovic began his quest for a fifth Wimbledon crown with a 6-3, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber.
■ Stan Wawrinka wasted little time as he powered past qualifier Ruben Bemelmans 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
■ Simona Halep shook off an injury early in her opener to overcome Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-4, 7-5.
■ Third seed Karolina Pliskova beat China’s Zhu Lin 6-2, 7-6 (4).