LONDON (AP) — Naomi Osaka might be more comfortable on grass courts these days but she will once again leave Wimbledon in the third round after a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Friday.
Osaka said afterward that she was upset by the result because she “actually thought I could play well, like, in general” and “make a deep run here.”
“I wanted to do better than I did before,” she said. “Also, I felt like I was trying so hard.”
Asked what positives she can take away from the grass-court portion of the season, Osaka replied: “I’m just going to be a negative human being today. I’m so sorry. I have nothing positive to say about myself, which is something I’m working on.”
She is a former No. 1 now ranked 50th and a four-time Grand Slam champion, all on hard courts — she won the U.S. Open and Australian Open twice apiece.
Osaka arrived at the All England Club this year having lost three of her last four matches at the place and with a career record of 5-4 there. Her best showing was getting to the third round in 2017 and 2018; she missed the tournament in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
After a victory earlier this week, she spoke about how she played with fear on grass for years because of a knee injury she got by slipping on the surface nearly a decade ago, but was feeling better about it lately.
“With age, fear kind of crept along and, I guess, paralyzed me, in a way,” she said. “Now I’m kind of just getting over that and trying to spread my wings on grass. I think it is working, and I think I am moving pretty well.”
But from 4-all in the third set Friday, Pavlyuchenkova grabbed eight of the match’s last 10 points, holding at love, then breaking in the final game with the help of a trio of forehand unforced errors by Osaka.
“A majority of you were cheering for Naomi, but that’s OK,” Pavlyuchenkova, who turned 34 on Thursday, told the crowd at Court No. 2. “I’m mentally tough, so that didn’t bother me at all. The opposite: It gave me energy.”
Pavlyuchenkova, who is ranked 53rd, was the 2021 runner-up at the French Open, and Friday's victory moved her into the fourth round at Wimbledon for the first time since she was a quarterfinalist nine years ago.
Osaka, meanwhile, already was looking ahead to the next part of the season — on the North American hard courts leading into the U.S. Open, which begins on Aug. 24.
“I’m glad to be done with this,” she said, “and I’m looking forward to the hard courts.”
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Australian tennis player Nick Kyrgios, top center, watches as Naomi Osaka of Japan plays Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova during a third round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova reacts after beating Naomi Osaka of Japan during a third round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 4, 2025.(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
Naomi Osaka of Japan reacts as she plays Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova during a third round women's singles match at the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, Friday, July 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Richard “Dick” Codey, a former acting governor of New Jersey and the longest serving legislator in the state's history, died Sunday. He was 79.
Codey’s wife, Mary Jo Codey, confirmed her husband’s death to The Associated Press.
“Gov. Richard J. Codey passed away peacefully this morning at home, surrounded by family, after a brief illness,” Codey's family wrote in a Facebook post on Codey's official page.
"Our family has lost a beloved husband, father and grandfather -- and New Jersey lost a remarkable public servant who touched the lives of all who knew him," the family said.
Known for his feisty, regular-guy persona, Codey was a staunch advocate of mental health awareness and care issues. The Democrat also championed legislation to ban smoking from indoor areas and sought more money for stem cell research.
Codey, the son of a northern New Jersey funeral home owner, entered the state Assembly in 1974 and served there until he was elected to the state Senate in 1982. He served as Senate president from 2002 to 2010.
Codey first served as acting governor for a brief time in 2002, after Christine Todd Whitman’s resignation to join President George W. Bush’s administration. He held the post again for 14 months after Gov. Jim McGreevey resigned in 2004.
At that time, New Jersey law mandated that the Senate president assume the governor’s role if a vacancy occurred, and that person would serve until the next election.
Codey routinely drew strong praise from residents in polls, and he gave serious consideration to seeking the Democratic nomination for governor in 2005. But he ultimately chose not to run when party leaders opted to back wealthy Wall Street executive Jon Corzine, who went on to win the office.
Codey would again become acting governor after Corzine was incapacitated in April 2007 due to serious injuries he suffered in a car accident. He held the post for nearly a month before Corzine resumed his duties.
After leaving the governor’s office, Codey returned to the Senate and also published a memoir that detailed his decades of public service, along with stories about his personal and family life.
“He lived his life with humility, compassion and a deep sense of responsibility to others,” his family wrote. “He made friends as easily with Presidents as he did with strangers in all-night diners.”
Codey and his wife often spoke candidly about her past struggles with postpartum depression, and that led to controversy in early 2005, when a talk radio host jokingly criticized Mary Jo and her mental health on the air.
Codey, who was at the radio station for something else, confronted the host and said he told him that he wished he could “take him outside.” But the host claimed Codey actually threatened to “take him out,” which Codey denied.
His wife told The Associated Press that Codey was willing to support her speaking out about postpartum depression, even if it cost him elected office.
“He was a really, really good guy,” Mary Jo Codey said. “He said, ‘If you want to do it, I don’t care if I get elected again.’”
Jack Brook contributed reporting from New Orleans.
FILE - New Jersey State Sen. and former Democratic Gov. Richard Codey is seen before New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy delivers his State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature at the statehouse, in Trenton, N.J., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
