Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka’s dreams of a home Olympic gold were yesterday crushed by a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to the Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova as her return to action came to an abrupt end.
Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron and was one of the faces of the Tokyo Games, struggled in an error-strewn display that blew the draw wide open after the earlier exits of world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty and third seed Aryna Sabalenka.
“How disappointed am I? I mean, I’m disappointed in every loss, but I feel like this one sucks more than the others,” the four-time Grand Slam-winner said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Asked what went wrong, she said: “Everything — if you watch the match then you would probably see. I feel like there’s a lot of things that I counted on that I couldn’t rely on today.”
The third-round defeat follows a turbulent few months for Osaka, who abandoned her French Open campaign in May after refusing to attend news conferences, citing the need to preserve her mental health.
Osaka also skipped Wimbledon, saying she had been battling depression and anxiety, before returning in Tokyo for her first Olympics and her starring role at the opening ceremony.
“I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this. I think it’s maybe because I haven’t played in the Olympics before and for the first year [it] was a bit much,” Osaka said.
After looking assured in the first two rounds after her eight-week hiatus, Osaka made a dreadful start under the center court roof at a rain-hit Ariake Tennis Park and never recovered.
“I’ve taken long breaks before and I’ve managed to do well. I’m not saying that I did bad right now, but I do know that my expectations were a lot higher,” she said. “I feel like my attitude wasn’t that great because I don’t really know how to cope with that pressure, so that’s the best that I could have done in this situation.”
“Of course it’s one of the biggest wins of my career,” Vondrousova said. “Naomi is a great player, she has so many Grand Slams, so I knew it would be a tough match. I’m very happy with my play... I’m just happy to be through.”
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