Yuriko Lily Miyazaki crashed out of Wimbledon without winning a single game against No. 14 seed Daria Kasatkina.
The British No. 4 won her first main draw match at SW19 in the opening round but was given a reality check against recent Eastbourne champion Kasatkina, who thumped her 6-0 6-0.
Miyazaki’s match was given live TV billing on BBC 2 to start day four of The Championships. But it was a performance to forget for the world No. 148.
Miyazaki stormed through her first match after receiving a wildcard, dispatching Tamara Korpatsch 6-2 6-1. But she faced a tough test against the world No. 12, who came into Wimbledon off the back of winning her seventh career title last week.
Kasatkina needed 51 minutes to dispose of the 28-year-old, dropping just seven points on her own serve. The Russian is now on a seven-match winning streak.
It was a special moment for Miyazaki, who opened play on Court 18 and had her match aired live on the BBC. But she became the first British woman to be double-bagelled at SW19 since Clare Wood in 1997.
Ahead of the match, the third-ranked Brit was keen to test herself against a top player. Previewing her clash with Kasatkina, she said: “I’ve never played her before, but I’ve definitely watched her play in the past. Yeah, I think, I mean, she won Eastbourne last week, so she’s on good form. It will be good to see where my game’s at.”
While it could take a few days for Miyazaki to get over the bruising loss, it has still been a positive, albeit short, outing at Wimbledon. The 28-year-old only recorded her first Grand Slam win at last year’s US Open when she made her main draw debut at a qualifier and beat Margarita Betova.
Crucially, she will also pick up 70 ranking points for reaching the second round and takes home £93k in prize money. It’s more than she has won all year, with her 2024 prize money pre-Wimbledon totalling £70k.
Addressing the financial boost after her first-round win, Miyazaki explained: “Yeah, it’s huge. Obviously it helps with the travel, my training, some things like that.
But to be honest, I wasn’t really thinking about that when I was playing. I just really wanted to go out there and put in a good performance, see how I keep improving my level. Yeah, obviously the financial side is massive for me. Yeah, hopefully I can use that to keep building my ranking, yeah, keep going forwards.”
