The 21st century
Japan · born Osaka, 1997 · right-handed · four major titles · Wimbledon quarter-finalist 2026
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QF
Best Wimbledon result, 2026
6-2, 7-6
Beat world No. 1 Sabalenka, Wimbledon 2026
2004
Last Japanese woman's Wimbledon quarter-final before hers
1
Grass final, Bad Homburg 2026
8-1
Grass record in 2026 before the quarter-final
Born in Osaka on 16 October 1997 to a Haitian father and a Japanese mother, Osaka moved to New York at three and later to Florida, and has always represented Japan. She won the US Open in 2018 and 2020 and the Australian Open in 2019 and 2021, and in January 2019 became the first Asian woman ranked world No. 1 in singles. She lit the Olympic cauldron in Tokyo in 2021. She stepped away from the tour that year, missing Wimbledon, and returned in 2024 after maternity leave. Tomasz Wiktorowski, formerly coach to Iga Świątek, has coached her since mid-2025. Her 2026 grass season brought a first grass final at Bad Homburg, where she retired against Karolína Muchová, and a first Wimbledon quarter-final, where Muchová beat her again.
| Wimbledon singles | Quarter-final 2026. Third round 2017, 2018 and 2025; second round 2024; first round 2019. Withdrew in 2021; absent 2022 and 2023 |
|---|---|
| Wimbledon 2026 | Seeded 14th. Beat Elsa Jacquemot 6-1, 7-5, the qualifier Anastasia Gasanova 6-3, 6-2, Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3 and the top seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 7-6 (2), a match in which she never lost serve. Lost the quarter-final to the 10th seed Karolína Muchová 7-6, 6-4. The first Japanese woman in the last eight since Ai Sugiyama in 2004 |
| Grass finals | Bad Homburg 2026: beat Magdalena Frech 6-4, 6-1, Elise Mertens 6-3, 6-3, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-3, then retired against Karolína Muchová at 1-6, 0-1. Her first grass final and her first tour-level final away from hard courts |
| Earlier Wimbledon defeats | 2017: Venus Williams, third round, on Court 1. 2019: Yulia Putintseva, first round. 2024: Emma Navarro, second round. 2025: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, third round |
"It's been a long time since I've had so much fun on the court, and to do it here, it really means a lot."
The person behind the player.
Wimbledon 2017 · Court 1
She usually prefers black or dark navy, and at her first Wimbledon in 2017 the all-white dress code left her feeling self-conscious. Her last match that year was a third-round meeting on Court 1 with Venus Williams, five times the champion and a player she looked up to. "It was the kind of match I dreamed of playing one day as a child," she said a year later.
Source: Sportiva, Shueisha (translated from Japanese)Bad Homburg 2026
Seeded sixth, she beat Magdalena Frech, Elise Mertens, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Wang Xinyu, the last 6-3, 6-3, to reach her first grass final. Kyodo News set out what was at stake: a first title on grass and her first tour title since the 2021 Australian Open. Against Karolína Muchová she retired at 1-6, 0-1, two days before Wimbledon began.
Source: Kyodo News, via Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun (translated from Japanese)Wimbledon 2026 · No. 3 Court
She walked on for her first-round match in a flowing white kimono with swinging sleeves and embroidery, modelled on O-Ren Ishii, Lucy Liu's character in Kill Bill. "They say all white at Wimbledon and I thought it would be really cool to come out in a kimono," she said. Her Japanese heritage, she added, meant a lot to her. She beat Elsa Jacquemot 6-1, 7-5.
Source: Associated PressWimbledon 2026 · No. 1 Court
Nine years after losing to Venus Williams on Court 1, she went back there for the third round and beat Daria Kasatkina 6-1, 6-3 to reach the fourth round for the first time. "I've actually never won on this court, so I'm really glad to have made a really good memory here," she said, and admitted she would rather talk about her clothes than her tennis.
Source: The Star (Reuters)Wimbledon 2026 · Fourth round
In her on-court interview after beating Aryna Sabalenka she thanked her coach in her own way: "The big Polish man, shout out Tomasz, shout out my team." Tomasz Wiktorowski, formerly Iga Świątek's coach, joined her team in mid-2025. It was her first win over Sabalenka since the 2018 US Open. "My team is the best team ever," she added.
Source: WTAWimbledon 2026 · Quarter-final
Muchová, who had beaten her in Bad Homburg, won 7-6, 6-4. "A completely different type of player from Sabalenka. I couldn't play my own game at all," Osaka said. A semi-final would have made her the first Japanese woman in the last four since Kimiko Date in 1996. She left sounding unbowed: "I still have a lot of room to grow. I have every chance of winning this tournament."
Source: Daily Sports (translated from Japanese)Free membership: player news, the grass court Atlas, the rankings and the grass season calendar.
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