By Shrivathsa Sridhar
LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) – Four-times Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka continued her impressive start to her Wimbledon campaign with a clinical 6-3 6-2 victory over Russian qualifier Anastasia Gasanova to reach the third round on a sunny Wednesday.
The Japanese 14th seed arrived on Court Two having swapped her first round “Kill Bill” kimono for a more toned down version of the dress with a decorative sash, a long train and a bomber jacket but there was nothing subdued about her tennis.
After cruising through the opening set, Osaka shifted up a gear in the next with a powerful overhead smash to break for a 4-2 lead and never looked back from there to reach the third round for the fourth time.
Osaka, who has not progressed beyond that stage at the All England Club, takes on Australian Daria Kasatkina or Indonesian Janice Tjen in the next round though she said her immediate focus was on another matter.
“Tomorrow is my daughter’s (third) birthday,” Osaka said. “I just wanted to be here for longer. I don’t want to make her get on a plane on her birthday. I was really happy about today.
“Obviously I have to practice in the morning, but maybe after we’ll go around the park and stuff. She loves making friends so yeah, we’ll probably do that.”
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar; Editing by Alison Williams)
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