Tokyo Olympics: Naomi Osaka lost to Marketa Vondrousova in women’s singles tennis
The 2nd racket of the world and the main favorite Naomi Osaka was knocked out of women’s tennis in singles at the Olympic Games in Tokyo on Tuesday. Osaka lost to former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4 in the third round of the Tokyo tennis tournament on Tuesday.
Osaka struggled with her usually reliable groundstrokes and struggled to get going throughout the match. The Japanese player sprayed a costly 18 unforced errors throughout the match — three times the number made by Vondrousova.
Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron on Friday to open the Games, seemed out of sorts on the Tokyo blue courts and never settled into a rhythm as Vondrousova never looked back. The Czech produced a series of drop-shot winners and other crafty shots that drew her opponent out of her comfort zone.
Vondrousova came out with her entire game clicking from the start and quickly ran out to a 4-0 lead in the first set as Osaka hardly had time to gather herself. Osaka then broke Vondrousova’s serve in the opening game of the second set but almost immediately handed the break back when she double-faulted to make it 2-2.
After Osaka lost her serve again to end the match by hitting a cross-court backhand wide, she shook hands with Vondrousova at the net, walked to her chair, zipped her racket up in her bag and followed Vondrousova off the court.
While both players produced 22 winners, Osaka hit 32 unforced errors to Vondrousova’s 10. But it wasn’t simply an off day for Osaka; it was also an outstanding performance from Vondrousova.
Conditions were different on Tuesday from what they were during Osaka’s previous two victories, with the roof closed because it was raining outside.
The women’s singles tennis event has now lost both of its top draw cards after world number one and Wimbledon champion Ash Barty was beaten in Sunday’s first round.
The Tokyo Olympics marked Osaka’s return to tennis after she withdrew from the French Open and took a two-month long mental health break.
