LONDON — Naomi Osaka matched her best Wimbledon performance on Wednesday, cruising into the third round with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory over qualifier Anastasia Gasanova in just 1 hour, 7 minutes.
The four-time Grand Slam champion produced one of her most composed performances on grass this season, never facing a break point as she dispatched the world No. 225 to reach the third round at the All England Club for the fourth time in her career.
Osaka had previously reached the third round at Wimbledon in 2017, 2018 and 2025 but has yet to progress beyond that stage at the year’s third Grand Slam.
The 28-year-old Japanese player made an emphatic start, surrendering only two points while racing into a 3-0 lead in the opening set.
Although Gasanova settled into the contest, Osaka maintained control throughout the remainder of the set before closing it out 6-3.
She carried that momentum into the second set.
Osaka secured the decisive break in the fifth game to move ahead 3-2 before tightening her grip on the match, winning the final four games to complete another 6-3, 6-2 scoreline without allowing her opponent a single break opportunity.
Despite the one-sided result, Osaka admitted she felt more nervous than during her opening-round victory.
“I think today for some reason I felt a lot more nervous than I did in my first round,” Osaka told reporters.
“That was a little strange. I think for me, obviously I have a goal of what I want to achieve this tournament. Just I guess to play someone I’ve never played before, it was something new.”
The victory continued Osaka’s impressive resurgence on grass following her runner-up finish at the Bad Homburg Open last week.
She retired from the final against Karolina Muchova because of a foot injury, raising concerns about her fitness entering Wimbledon.
Those concerns have quickly disappeared.
Osaka has shown no visible effects from the injury during her opening two matches in London, improving her grass-court record this season to 6-1.
Her progress at Wimbledon also marks an important milestone in her Grand Slam consistency.
By reaching the third round, Osaka has advanced to at least the third round at each of the first three major tournaments of the season for only the second time in her career.
The only previous occasion came during the breakthrough 2018 campaign that culminated in her maiden Grand Slam title at the U.S. Open.
Although grass has historically been her least successful surface, Osaka believes her powerful game is becoming increasingly effective on it.
“There are definitely strengths that I can utilize here,” she said.
“It’s interesting ’cause it took me a really long time to figure out the difference between all the clay court tournaments. I feel like here, on my first practice, from Germany to here I can figure out this grass is completely different.”
“I think I’m still adjusting to it a little bit. When I’m playing my opponents on grass, I do feel like I have a little bit, like my game does give me a little bit of benefits.”
Osaka now stands one victory away from reaching the Wimbledon fourth round for the first time.
Standing in her way will be Daria Kasatkina, who advanced after overcoming Janice Tjen in three sets in another second-round match on Wednesday.
Although Osaka holds a perfect 3-0 record against Kasatkina, all three previous meetings came on other surfaces.
Their Wimbledon encounter will mark the first grass-court meeting between the two players, with a place in the last 16 at stake.
For Osaka, whose confidence continues to grow after several injury-interrupted seasons, the opportunity represents another chance to rewrite her Wimbledon record and demonstrate that her game is becoming increasingly adaptable on the sport’s fastest surface.
