Osaka Triumphs in First Wimbledon Match Since 2018, Overcoming Set Loss

Naomi Osaka started her 2024 Wimbledon Championships campaign with a really solid performance against Diane Parry in the first round of the tournament.

The French player is very versatile and can play well on any surface. Her talent isn’t elite or on the level of Osaka, but she always works hard to overcome her opponent. The former world no. 1 started furiously, showing no issues in outplaying the French player as she won the opening set 6-1.

It came mostly due to her dominance in rallies with her power and serve. Osaka didn’t lose a single point behind her first serve in the first set, going 11 for 11, which is also the number of winners she had in that opening set.

The intent was pretty clear. Her opponent didn’t play well in the rallies at all, suffering under tremendous pressure and posting six unforced errors and not a single winner.

That changed in the second set, as Parry found the court much better. Osaka herself missed a bit more in the second set, so very quickly, she found herself down 0-3 in that set.

The French player continued to play well as the four-time major winner started to look increasingly out of sorts. She finished the set with 13 unforced errors, hitting only 38% of her serves.

It was a dreadful set from Osaka, and she needed to find a solution as soon as possible. An early break by Parry in the third set meant big trouble, but the Japanese player broke back but then failed to hold serve again.

Parry took a 3-1 lead because Osaka just couldn’t keep the ball in play. She was very confident ahead of her first match, and it was a good thing that she was because she was able to turn things around, taking a 4-3 lead.

From there, Osaka could apply enough pressure to get the break she needed to win the match. The final score was 6-1, 1-6, 6-4, and she will now prepare for the match against the winner of the meeting between the 19th-seeded Emma Navarro and Qiang Wang.

Naomi Osaka vs Diane Parry Match Stats: