TENNIS – 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.
Meanwhile, 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 pummelled Mertens into submission from the baseline.
Second seed Coco Gauff was not at her best under the roof on Court One but reined in the errors to get past Romanian qualifier Anca Todoni 6-2 6-1.
In the men’s section, defending champion Carlos Alcaraz and fifth seed Daniil Medvedev took time to get going before reaching the Wimbledon third round but eighth seed Casper Ruud felt the gloom on a damp Wednesday after being knocked out.
Alcaraz came close to dropping the opening set of his contest against Australian Aleksandar Vukic but the third seed sprang to life to secure a 7-6(5) 6-2 6-2 win.
Medvedev looked out of sorts early on Centre Court and was pushed hard by the 102-ranked Alexandre Muller before prevailing 6-7(3) 7-6(4) 6-4 7-5.
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