Naomi Osaka's dream of Olympic gold remains incomplete after losing to Marketa Vondrousova

In one of the biggest upsets in the Tokyo Olympics Women's singles tennis event, Japan's Naomi Osaka was knocked out in the third round match by Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova. The Japanese star lost the match 1-6, 4-6 to Vondrousova in one hour bringing an end to her Olympic journey. The second seed was considered one of the favourites to win the gold in the singles category.

Noomi Osaka knocked out of Tokyo Olympics    

With World no 1 Ashleigh Barty already sent back home, Osaka had the best chance to win the Olympic gold medal in her home country and also become the first Japanese tennis to achieve it.  Osaka, the four-time major champion who had the honour of lighting the Olympic cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, looked to be in top shape in the first two matches. She defeated Zheng Saisai and then Viktorija Golubic, dropping just 10 games in four sets played.

However, against Vondrousova, she was not even close to her best as her opponent drew her from her comfort zone with some crafty shots. It took only 24 minutes for the Czech player to claim the first set 6-1. Osaka had an error-prone match as she committed 18 unforced errors compared to six by her opponent. Vondrousova who is known for her all-court game and lefty spin mixed her trademark drop shots with big serves and powerful groundstrokes. She also and defended brilliantly when Osaka got her game going in the second set to win the second set 6-4 and with that, she became the first woman to enter the quarterfinals of the event.  Vondrousova, ranked 42nd, will go on to face Spain’s Paula Badosa or Nadia Podoroska of Argentina.

The defeat comes after Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open following the first round to take a mental health break. She posted a statement on Twitter, saying that she had "suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and that it was better to exercise self-care and skip the press conferences because she gets huge waves of anxiety before. Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, Naomi Osaka revealed that she is ready to face the press in what can be called a u-turn after her refusal to do so in earlier tournaments. 

Image: Tokyo 2020 / Twitter