Tokyo Olympics: Naomi Osaka loses in tennis women’s singles 3rd round

Japanese Tennis star Naomi Osaka crashed out of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics after losing 1-6, 4-6 to Marketa Vondrousova in the third round of the women’s singles event on Tuesday. This defeat crushed her dreams of winning Olympic gold at home.

Naomi, who had lit the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony, struggled in the match that was laced with errors as she was got knocked out in 68 minutes. The match was played at the Ariake Tennis Park.

Osaka, who came into the match riding on a dominant victory, made a bad start as she dropped her serve in the opening game. Seeded second in the Summer Games, he was broken twice more as the 2019 French Open runner-up Vondrousova raced away with the first set.

However, Osaka came back strong in the second set by breaking her opponent early. But this early advantage was erased with a double fault, allowing Vondrousova to level at two games apiece.

Osaka, the four-time Grand Slam winner, was riddled with inconsistency and could not consolidate on the advantage that she had. She was floored by Vondrousova’s array of crafty drop shots.

Osaka saved two match points as she served to stay alive at 4-5 but Vondrousova converted at the third time of asking as the Japanese star smacked a backhand wide.

Vondrousova, ranked 42nd, will go on to face Spain’s Paula Badosa or Nadia Podoroska of Argentina.

In her previous match, Osaka beat Switzerland’s 49th-ranked Viktorija Golubic 6-3, 6-2 in just over an hour. She was playing ger second match in as many days after the opening ceremony.

“Honestly, I feel like I was a bit more nervous before the match. I felt a lot of butterflies, but I think as I started playing and feeling more comfortable, I knew that no matter what it would be a great match,” Osaka had said.

Before arriving at the Games, Osaka had not played since May, when she walked out of the French Open saying media commitments were harming her mental health.