Navarro ends Osaka's Wimbledon comeback

Naomi Osaka's (26) ambition to enhance her grasscourt skills will be postponed for at least another year after her Wimbledon return was cut short in the second round by American Emma Navarro (23) in a 6-4, 6-1 defeat that lasted only 58 minutes.

When the four-time Grand Slam champion came back to the tour in January after a 15-month maternity break, her top priority was to "do much better on clay and grass".

Regrettably for Osaka, she was unable to even match her career-best third-round performances at the French Open and now at Wimbledon.

She delivered an impressive performance at Roland Garros as she nearly pushed world number one and eventual champion Iga Swiatek to the brink, wasting a match point before falling in the second round.

However, her second-round display under a closed Centre Court roof was as poor as the British weather, as her game crumbled against the American 19th seed after she made four erratic errors to get broken in the seventh game of the first set.

Navarro did not allow her opponent's stature to distract her from the task at hand, maintaining relentless pressure in the second set as she surged to a 3-0 lead.

The popular Japanese superstar, competing at Wimbledon this week for the first time since 2019, received a thunderous ovation from the crowd when she finally won a game to avoid a second-set shutout, but that was only a brief respite and she exited by hitting a forehand long.

"Naomi is obviously a great player. It’s great to have her back on tour and she’s playing some great tennis since she's been back but obviously, I wanted to get the win today and was able to play some good tennis," Navarro told the crowd in a courtside interview.

"It was my first time on Centre Court here at Wimbledon, it doesn’t really feel real.

"I’ve been having a lot of fun on grass. It’s kind of been the theme of my time on tour so far, just trying to enjoy myself and today was no exception.".