Mom’s Day: Osaka Cruises into Wimbledon Third Round, Credits Daughter Shai
Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, July 1, 2026
Photo credit: Richard Pagliaro
Wimbledon—Parting can be painful for working moms.
Naomi Osaka was in no mood for an early departure from SW19.
A dynamic Osaka did not face a break point dismissing qualifier Anastasia Gasanova 6-3, 6-2 on No. 2 Court to reach the Wimbledon third round and match her best career result at SW19.
Setting the tone on serve, Osaka served 70 percent, pumped eight aces and won 10 of 14 second-serve points in a 67-minute win as her family watched sitting behind the baseline near coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.
Osaka celebrated daughter Shai’s third birthday a day early and said spending more time with her daughter in this bright London summer was a prime motivation to take care of business on court.
“Tomorrow is my daughter’s birthday,” Osaka said in her on-court interview afterward. “I didn’t want her to get on a plane on her birthday.”
Taking flight from the first point, Osaka powered through 12 of the first 14 points racing out to a 3-0 lead.
That fast start came after a festive entrance. Osaka, who wore a Kimono on court for her 6-1, 7-5 first-round win over Frenchwoman Elsa Jacquemot changed up her fashion game today.
Osaka came out wearing what appeared to be a long, flowing white cape.
“It’s an Obi, part of a Japanese tradition of a Kimono,” said Osaka, who later gave the garment to a staffer who wrapped in a white Wimbledon bag and carried it off court.
The 225th-ranked Gasanova, who took the court with two Top 20 career wins to her credit, steadied herself cutting the gap to 2-4 before Osaka slid an ace down the T to seal a one-set lead after 28 minutes.
Gasanova, who left the court after that first set, looked either ill, injured or just out of gas at times bending at the waist and hunching over to gulp in air. Taking more time between serves and a break to tie her shoes at one point, Gasanova was eventually hit with a time violation warning.
Though Osaka credited Gasanova with “dominating” some of the rallies, the four-time Grand Slam champion controlled this match start to finish.
Firing a forehand winner down the line for break point, Osaka banged a bounce smash into the corner breaking for a 3-2 second-set lead with a loud “come on!”
The 14th-seeded Osaka rolled through five games in a row to secure her third-round spot and give her daughter an early birthday present.
“As a mom on tour, I could say that, like, my situation is really privileged because I’m able to bring someone from home on the road with me. I don’t have to worry too much,” Osaka said. “Obviously I do still worry. When I’m not with her, I try to race immediately back home so I can be with her and all
the things.
“It’s not like I have to bring her on the site to on-site daycare or anything like that. In that way I’d say I’m very privileged. I see all the moms on tour doing amazing. For me, that means a lot and it makes
me really happy. That’s one of the things I connected with Taylor Townsend a lot on. Yeah, maybe we should all start like a mom group chat or something.”
Tuning up for Wimbledon by reaching the Bad Homburg final where she retired with a foot issue after the opening set, Osaka has been in fine form so far dropping serve only once and sweeping all four sets she’s played.
Osaka, who has won all four of her major championships on hard courts, has said in the past she felt more comfortable on clay than grass.
Working with coach Wiktorowski, Osaka is trying to move into the court more and dispense her point-ending power on drive volleys.
“Yeah, with Tomasz, I’ve been trying to practice like going forward more. So I have been trying to hit more drive volleys or volleys in general,” said Osaka, who won eight of 10 trips to net today. “Just moving forward and following my ball.
“It is a little, like, tricky sometimes to hit a drive volley because you do have to put all your body weight forward. I know I’m a little wrong for doing this, but sometimes I try to watch where the person is going instead of committing.
“I do have a little scare, a couple scares here and there, but overall it seems to be going quite well.
Yeah, I definitely trust myself a lot more with my footwork and with my endurance.”
Next up for Osaka is a third-round clash vs. Daria Kasatkina in a rematch of the 2018 Indian Wells final. Kasatkina rallied past Janice Tjen, 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-4. Osaka fended off Kasatkina in three sets at the 2025 US Open as well.
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