Osaka cruises into third round to match best Wimbledon result
In-form Naomi Osaka is now one win away from breaking new ground at Wimbledon after comfortably dispatching Anastasia Gasanova.
Naomi Osaka cruised into the third round of Wimbledon by defeating qualifier Anastasia Gasanova in straight sets.
Number 14 seed Osaka has now equalled her best performance at Wimbledon after winning 6-3 6-2 in just 67 minutes on Court No. 2.
She will now face another unseeded player, either Daria Kasatkina or Janice Tjen, with a potential fourth-round clash against top seed Aryna Sabalenka looming large.
It was an impressive serving performance from Osaka, who did not offer up a single break-point opportunity throughout the contest.
A solitary break, which came in Gasanova's first service game, was enough to win the opening set, which four-time major winner Osaka sealed with an ace, one of eight she fired down in the match.
Gasanova showed resistance early in the second set, saving a break point to hold serve and move 2-1 in front.
But Osaka responded well, ultimately breaking twice and sweeping to victory, finishing up with 30 winners to just 12 unforced errors.
The latest win continues Osaka's resurgent year both on grass and more widely – this is only the second time in her career (after 2018) that she has reached the third round at each of the first three grand slams in a year.
Ostapenko also through in early action
There was also victory for Jelena Ostapenko in the early action on Wednesday.
Former French Open champion Ostapenko, a semi-finalist on the grass of Eastbourne last week, recorded an emphatic 6-2 6-0 victory over Croatia's Antonia Ruzic.
Ostapenko smashed 34 winners and converted six of her eight break-point opportunities to win well, overcoming a brief wobble midway through the first set.
The Latvian therefore enjoyed a much more comfortable outing than she had in her gruelling first-round clash with home hope Harriet Dart.
Ostapenko is in the same section of the draw as Sabalenka and Osaka.
And she will face Sabalenka in round three if the Belarusian wins her round-two match against American McCartney Kessler on Court One.













