By Richard Pagliaro | Monday, July 1, 2019
Yulia Putintseva continued her career mastery of Naomi Osaka bouncing the second-seeded Japanese out of Wimbledon, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Photo credit: Getty Images
The Centre Court lawn was a pristine patch of grass as Naomi Osaka stepped out for her Wimbledon opener.
Yulia Putintseva turned it into a demolition yard.
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Mixing low slice and off-pace bunts with booming drives, Putintseva blew the two-time Grand Slam champion right out of Wimbledon, 7-6 (4), 6-2, for her third straight win over Osaka.
A secret to Putintseva's success in this match-up: She believes she can extend points, put the second seed in awkward positions and drain errors from the explosive Osaka.
"I think I was able to keep my concentration up high all these three matches," Putintseva said. "I feel like whenever I am going down with Naomi in bad concentration, she's straight, like, doing so many winners.
"I was trying to make it as more uncomfortable for her as possible. That's the only thing."
Arriving in London knowing she could regain the world No. 1 with a deep Wimbledon run, Osaka jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but lost some depth on her drives and lacked the confidence and transition skills to cope with Putintseva's backhand slice and occasional drop shots.
Osaka sprayed 31 more errors—38 to 7—suffering her first Wimbledon opening exit and first Grand Slam first-round loss since the 2017 Roland Garros.
"She mixes the ball up really well," Osaka said afterward. "I mean, I just don't think I played that well. But I wasn't surprised because I've played her like twice already."
Drawing on the memories of their past meetings, Putintseva came to a conclusion: Osaka isn't as comfortable moving on the lawn as she is on hard courts and can struggle combating low, no-pace shots that slither at her shins.
"I think she definitely don't like to move a lot, what I'm trying to make (her do)," Putintseva said. " I was trying to mix it up, as well."
Confusion has colored Osaka's season that started with so much clarity.
A season that began with Osaka fighting off Petra Kvitova to capture her second straight Grand Slam title in Melbourne and rise to world No. 1 has spiraled through the sudden and controversial split with coach Sascha Bajin to her acknowledgement she struggled with the pressure of the top spot.
Emotional wounds from the burden of expectation were clear as the former world No. 1 cut short her post-match press conference asking the moderator "Can I leave now? I feel like I'm about to cry."
Osaka won 14 straight matches sweeping the US Open and Australian Open crowns in succession. Since she beat Petra Kvitova to win Melbourne, the 21-year-old Japanese is 2-2 in majors following her Roland Garros third-round loss to Katerina Siniakova.
On the surface, the two-time Roland Garros quarterfinalist sweeping the Australian Open champion appears major upset.
In reality, the 5-foot-4 Moscow native has been Osaka's personal kryptonite for some time. The world No. 39 scored her third consecutive straight-sets win over the second-ranked Japanese, following a 6-2, 6-3, sweep in Birmingham last month.
"Honestly, every match is a battle," Putintseva told the BBC afterward. "You never know what's gonna happen. But I was like hoping to do my best, to go out there and play my best and do what I can and we'll see what happens.
"Today I think I did a great job. It's a amazing. Honestly, I'm feeling better and better on grass."
It was Putintseva's third Top 10 win of the season following her triumph over Sloane Stephens in Sydney and her upset of then world No. 1 Osaka in Birmingham.
Opening day saw two Top 10 seeds tumble from the draw.
Magdalena Rybarikova defused 10th-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, 6-2, 6-4.
Two years ago, the then 87th-ranked Rybarikova made a rousing run to the Wimbledon semifinals. She returned to her favorite surface moving fluidly. Rybarikova converted four of six break points and exploited eight double faults from Sabalenka in a 70-minute conquest.
Apart from her inspired 2017 semifinal run, the 30-year-old Slovak had suffered nine opening-round exits in 11 prior Wimbledon appearances. Now, she moves on to a second-round clash vs.15-year-old Coco Gauff, who defeated her tennis idol and inspiration, 39-year-old Venus Williams.