Slovakia’s Mia Pohankova defeated Naomi Osaka 6-3, 7-5 at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Thursday. Osaka was playing in front of her home crowd, but the teenager’s victory ended her run in the tournament.
Pohankova, who turned 18 a week earlier, entered with a wild card, a place offered by the tournament organizers. She won the Wimbledon girls’ singles title in 2025. Osaka had reached this stage by beating Jasmine Paolini in the first round.
The victory puts Pohankova in the quarterfinals, where eight players remain. Her next opponent will be Alycia Parks, who beat Kimberly Birrell 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday. In another round-of-16 match, Leylah Fernandez defeated Elise Mertens 6-2, 7-6. Fernandez won the second-set tiebreak 8-6.
Two other players, Maja Chwalinska and Belinda Bencic, had withdrawn earlier because of injuries. Chwalinska had an injury to her left thigh, while Bencic had a right ankle injury.
