Former world No 1 Osaka progressed to the women's singles quarter-finals with a 6-2 7-6 (7-2) victory, in the process avenging her recent French Open defeat to Sabalenka.
The striking entrance outfits Osaka wears to walk on to the court have already generated headlines at this tournament, and the lace gown she strode on to Centre Court in was no exception.
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As well as looking the part, Osaka is also performing like a star once play gets under way, especially this time when she delivered her first win over the world No 1 in eight years.
Osaka had lost her last three matches against Sabalenka, which included a defeat at the French Open a month ago.
But Osaka had learned the lessons of those experiences and was on the front foot once she broke Sabalenka early in the first set.
Sabalenka fought back, but Osaka, after a nervy hold of serve, scored a stunning double break. The Belarusian could not recover from that in the first set, which Osaka took emphatically.
Sabalenka took a pause to leave the court before looking to regroup in the second set. She never gave up, especially after giving herself a pep talk with a slap of the racket to her head and Sabalenka matched Osaka much more closely in the second set.
They battled all the way through to a tie-break, but that was where Osaka excelled. She stormed ahead to get five match points. Sabalenka slammed down an ace to delay her, but Osaka sealed the next point to take the tie-break and a memorable victory.
"I'm just really grateful. For me, this court is so special, and this is the first match I've won on this court," Osaka said. "I really appreciate it with the atmosphere.
"It was a really fun match! Even if I lost, I would have thought it was a fun match."
She continued: "It's been a long time since I've had so much fun on court, and to do it here means a lot.
"Going into this match, I'd lost to her three times in a row. That really sucked, I wanted to turn things round and I'm really glad I got the opportunity to do that."
Djokovic apologises for 'outbursts'
Djokovic topped Federer's record for the most men's singles match wins at Wimbledon when he beat Roman Safiullin on Centre Court before Osaka's blockbuster showdown with Sabalenka.
Seven-time Wimbledon champion Djokovic beat Safiullin in four sets to take his 106th match victory at the All England Club.
But it was not plain sailing for the great Serb who was troubled by Safiullin, a qualifier ranked 132nd in the world, before claiming a 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 3-6 6-3 win.
Djokovic started brightly enough with a break but Safiullin broke back and dragged Djokovic into a tie-breaker, which the Serb won.
He kept his composure to chalk up the second set but Djokovic's frustrations became more apparent. He repeatedly held his hands up to the sky and when Safiullin slammed a ball past him to break in the third set, Djokovic even smashed a ball into the back of the court.
That earned a round of boos at Centre Court but there were plenty of cheers for at times brilliant rallies between the pair. Djokovic had to vary his approach to win, rushing to the net to land expert volleys.
He broke in the fourth set and controlled the action from there, finishing with a fantastic serve and volley to progress to the quarter-finals.
He acknowledged his "outbursts" afterwards. "I apologise," Djokovic said.
He added: "Today it was one of those days where I didn't want to stay in the rally for too long. So I had to mix things up.
"Survive to thrive. That's how I feel. So hopefully the thriving part is coming."
Sinner eases to straight-sets win while Gauff leaves it late
Defending men's champion Jannik Sinner beat Japanese qualifier Shintaro Mochizuki in straight sets in the final match on Centre Court, while Coco Gauff defied Wimbledon's 11pm curfew by little more than a minute to clinch a quarter-final spot.
Former Wimbledon junior champion Mochizuki, playing in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time, produced several eye-catching moments during his match with Sinner, with his never-say-die attitude endearing him to the crowd.
He was particularly impressive in the second set, taking the world No 1 to a tie-break, but Sinner would ultimately storm it without dropping a point and then broke early in the third as he secured a 6-3 7-6 (7-0) 6-3 victory.
"First time we play against each other, so I didn't know exactly what to expect but tried to handle certain situations better than him," Sinner said. "I think I did but he's an incredible player.
"To come from qualifiers and play such a high level for as long as he did, I wish him nothing but the best and he should be proud of himself.
"Still, I'm very happy with today's performance and I'm just trying to step up a little bit better every day."
Gauff reached the last eight at Wimbledon for the first time as she battled back to beat Switzerland's Belinda Bencic 4-6 6-3 6-4 in a topsy-turvy match that went late on Court One.
The 11th-seeded Bencic, a semi-finalist last year and Olympic champion in 2021, took the first set on her third set point after the erratic Gauff spurned a 3-0 lead.
Gauff found her range in the second set, breaking Bencic's serve twice on her way to forcing a decider, and the seventh seed swiftly had Bencic on the back foot again in the third.
With the clock ticking down to Wimbledon's 11pm cut-off time, Gauff set up match point with only two minutes to go and closed things out in the nick of time.