Naomi Osaka’s early dominance fades against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova’s comeback

LONDON – No seeding these days, no problem – at least early on.

Naomi Osaka, back at Wimbledon without the trappings of a top-ranked player, looked every bit the Grand Slam great for a set on July 4.

But the old rhythm ebbed away, and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova stormed back to win 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

“A majority of you were cheering for Naomi, but that’s OK,” the Russian, who turned 34 on July 3, told the crowd at Court Two.

“I’m mentally tough, so that didn’t bother me at all. The opposite: It gave me energy.”

Earlier this week, Osaka admitted she had feared playing on the surface for much of her career.

“I don’t know, with age fear kind of crept along and, I guess, paralysed me in a way,” she said.

“Now I’m kind of just getting over that and trying to spread my wings on grass.”

It has been more than four years since she last lifted a Slam – the 2021 Australian Open – a stretch shaped by introspection, a battle with depression, and the birth of her child.

And for a while on a sun-drenched Court Two, she summoned her vintage self – painting lines, pummelling serves, playing with purpose in this third-round clash.

But after dropping the second set, the momentum slowly slipped through her fingers.

A double fault handed Pavlyuchenkova a 2-0 lead in the decider, and Osaka, despite flashes of brilliance, never fully recovered.

The errors began to creep in, the confidence to ebb, and the comeback trail was quietly closed off.

No fourth-round debut this year – just a glimpse of what once was.

“I felt like I was behind for the majority of the match, so I played point-by-point. I’m incredibly happy because I was mentally tough in the three matches that I have won,” added Pavlyuchenkova.

“I’m usually not so good on grass.”

Wimbledon, meanwhile, paid tribute to Diogo Jota after the Liverpool star’s death as Portugal’s Francisco Cabral wore a black ribbon during his doubles match.

Cabral was allowed to put the ribbon on his shirt sleeve for the second-round tie after the All England Club relaxed its strict all-white dress code to allow tributes to the Portugal forward.

Jota, 28, and his brother Andre Silva died in a car crash in northern Spain on July 3 while travelling to catch a ferry to England ahead of the start of pre-season training.

Cabral said he was driving to Wimbledon when he heard the news and praised Jota as “an idol, such an icon, such a good person”.

“I know what he’s been through, what he conquered through his career and through his life. So he’s just very inspiring for me,” he said after losing with Austrian partner Lucas Miedler against Czech duo Petr Nouza and Patrik Rikl.

“I just wish all the best for his family. I know they have good people around them so I hope they can get through it.”

Earlier on July 3, Jannik Sinner swept into the third round as the world No. 1 thrashed Australia’s Aleksandar Vukic 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.

While several of Wimbledon’s top stars have suffered shock exits, including third seed Alexander Zverev and world No. 4 Jack Draper, there has been no hint of an upset in the Italian’s opening two matches.

The 23-year-old has dropped just 12 games in demolishing Vukic and Luca Nardi to make the last 32 at the All England Club.

Sinner’s biggest struggle came in the final game as he had to wait until his sixth match point to serve it out and saved a break point with a sensational cross-court forehand winner.

“I enjoyed it because I won the game! If not, I don’t know,” said Sinner after an unusual show of flamboyance as he whipped up the crowd’s adulation on saving the break point.

“The match can change very, very quickly. If he breaks me there it can go long distance.

“I was lucky with that shot so thank you to my racket which somehow made it to put the ball in court. I’m very happy to win in straight sets.” AFP, REUTERS