Aryna Sabalenka’s loss to Naomi Osaka at Wimbledon has blown the women’s draw wide open.
Sabalenka fell to Osaka 6-2, 7-6, suffering her first straight-sets defeat at a Grand Slam since the 2020 US Open.
The world number one also saw her Open Era record of 21 consecutive tiebreaks won come to an end, having lost the second-set shootout.
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Sabalenka‘s exit followed that of defending champion Iga Swiatek, world number two Elena Rybakina and last year’s runner-up Amanda Anisimova.
With so many big hitters out, tennis legend Martina Navratilova picked her new favourite to win the Wimbledon title.
Martina Navratilova says Naomi Osaka can win Wimbledon
Asked on BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon who she thinks will go on to hoist the famous trophy, Navratilova said: “You have to go with Naomi Osaka.
“I thought the night before Sabalenka and Osaka that Sabalenka would win as she does everything a little bit better than Osaka, but it was the other way around. Osaka did everything a bit better than Sabalenka.
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“She served bigger, hit bigger and most of all played braver tennis. Most of all it was her serve. She won 80% of her first serves.
‘If she keeps playing like that she can hit anybody off the court. She hit Sabalenka off the court, who does that?”
Naomi Osaka has yet to drop a set at this year’s Wimbledon Championships, and has only been forced to one tiebreak.
Naomi Osaka could go within one major of Career Grand Slam
Osaka, aged 28, is a four-time Grand Slam champion, having won two Australian Open crowns and two US Open titles.
She has never won a non-hard-court major, though, having struggled at Roland Garros and Wimbledon over the years.
Osaka achieved her best result ever at the French Open this season, making the fourth round.
The world number 14 has already guaranteed her best-ever Wimbledon campaign, with her previous personal record being a third-round finish.
Should Osaka go on to win Wimbledon, she will need just a Roland Garros title to complete the Career Grand Slam, a feat only 10 women have managed in history.
Maria Sharapova was the last WTA star to do it, completing the set at the 2012 French Open.
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