Seventh seed Naomi Osaka suffered a surprising exit from the Pan Pacific Open on Thursday after falling to 18-year-old wildcard entry Mia Pohankova in straight sets in Tokyo. The Slovakian teenager secured a 6-3, 7-5 victory to progress to the quarter-finals.
Pohankova Secures Major Upset in Tokyo
Playing in front of Osaka’s home crowd, Pohankova, who celebrated her 18th birthday a week ago, delivered a standout performance against the four-time Grand Slam champion. Pohankova, who won the 2025 Wimbledon junior singles title, advanced after holding off Osaka, who had entered the match following a first-round victory against Jasmine Paolini.
Following her victory, Pohankova moves into the last eight of the tournament, where she is set to face American player Alycia Parks.
Further Round of 16 Action and Tournament Withdrawals
In other round-of-16 matches on Thursday, Parks secured her spot in the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-1 win against Kimberly Birrell. Elsewhere, Leylah Fernandez eliminated fifth-seeded Elise Mertens in straight sets, winning 6-2, 7-6 (8-6).
A late match scheduled for Thursday featured top seed Elena Rybakina facing Yulia Putintseva, with both players born in Russia but representing Kazakhstan.
The tournament lost two of its top seeds earlier due to injury concerns. Second seed Maja Chwalinska was forced to pull out because of a left thigh injury, while fourth seed Belinda Bencic withdrew with a right ankle problem.
