import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
from mpl_toolkits.mplot3d import Axes3D

fig = plt.figure()
ax = fig.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')

x = np.linspace(-2,2,60)
y = np.linspace(-2,2,60)

xx, yy = np.meshgrid(x,y)

z = xx**2 + yy**3

surf = ax.plot_surface(xx, yy, z, cmap="viridis")

ax.set_xlabel('x axis')      # <====== This works
ax.yaxis.set_label('y axis') # <====== This doesn't work
ax.zaxis.set_label('z axis') # <====== This doesn't work