Naomi Osaka rues swift Wimbledon exit while Coco Gauff marches on

Naomi Osaka has failed to progress beyond the third round at Wimbledon since her first visit in 2017. Photograph: Daniel Kopatsch/Getty Images

When Naomi Osaka returned to the Tour in January, six months after giving birth to her daughter, she said she did not expect to hit top form until later this summer, on the hard courts. On Wednesday, after impressing in her first-round win at Wimbledon, she was undone, beaten 6-4, 6-1 by the American No 19 seed, Emma Navarro. For Osaka, the US hard courts ­probably cannot come soon enough.

“I’m excited to go back on hard courts but I’m a bit disappointed because I wanted to do really well and I put a lot of time into it,” the former world No 1 said. “But there’s always next year.”