‘Relieved’ Naomi Osaka earns first win at Wimbledon since 2018 over Diane Parry

WIMBLEDON—Prior to today’s 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Diane Parry, Naomi Osaka had last won a match at Wimbledon in 2018. Other than four Grand Slam singles titles, worldwide fame, several forays into social activism, and parenthood, not much had happened since.

As Boris Becker once said, tennis years are dog years.

While Osaka’s initial ascent was comet-like, her return to tennis following last year’s pregnancy has been far more methodical. Though she hasn’t won a tournament since taking the 2021 Australian Open, throughout ’24 there have been encouraging signs. Most notably, this May at Roland Garros, Osaka held a match point on eventual champion Iga Swiatek.

Read More: Naomi Osaka earns first Grand Slam match win since 2022 at Roland Garros

Encouraged by that effort, Osaka started off strongly versus Parry. From the second point on, Parry’s strategy was clear: carve and curl her one-handed backhand low, short, and occasionally deep in the quest to extract errors. But in the first set, that carried little sway, proving boxer Mike Tyson’s adage that everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth.

Time after time, Osaka moved up to the ball, bent her knees with exemplary discipline, and drove the ball with trademark depth and power. Within 13 minutes, she’d broken Parry’s serve to up 3-1. With Parry serving at 1-4, 15-40, Osaka hit five straight winners to close out the set.

But hand it to Parry for maintaining faith in her plan. After all, she had to. The idea of outhitting Osaka was completely off-limits. Better instead to channel a near-facsimile of that great one-hander, Justine Henin. Serving in the first game at 30-40, Parry struck a 102 mph ace down the T, drawing applause from Osaka. From there, Parry grabbed control of the match, taking nine of 11 games to go ahead, 3-1 in the third.

“I think, honestly, I feel like I came out really, really strong in the first set,” said Osaka. “Then not being too hard on myself, I think she adjusted a lot better in the second set.”

Parry’s slice backhand was working like a scalpel, delicately carving pieces out of Osaka. Hours earlier in the day, just after noon, I’d watched Osaka practice at Aorangi Park on the north end of Wimbledon and seen her work diligently on swing volleys—surely a shot she hopes to master in the quest to take advantage of her tremendously forceful groundstrokes. But early in the third set, she missed one badly, an error that likely convinced Osaka that to win, the match would be played more on the ground.

“I feel like today honestly felt very hectic just because of the way she played,” said Osaka. “I felt that I had to constantly tell myself to be in control of the point. When she was slicing and stuff, it was a little stressful.”

Nimble as Parry was off the backhand, her serve frequently underwhelmed. In the third set, Parry only got in 33 percent of her first serves and double-faulted six times, including two straight when serving at 4-5, 30-all. Yes, you read that right: the match was concluded with two consecutive double-faults.

“I feel really relieved to have won this in three sets,” said Osaka. “I think it will do good for my character development.”

Osaka earned this victory one day prior to her daughter Shai turning a year old. To mark Shai’s birthday, Osaka gave her the classic children’s book, Peter Rabbit. In the wake of an opening day victory Osaka described as “really fun and really stressful,” perhaps she will heed these words from the book’s author, Beatrix Potter:

“There is something delicious about writing the first words of a story. You never quite know where they'll take you.”