Tokyo: Japanese poster girl and one of the best medal hopes for the country at the Olympics, home favourite Naomi Osaka crashed out of the women’s singles event losing to former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 1-6, 4-6 in the third round on Tuesday.
Osaka, who lit the torch on the opening day, struggled to get going in the entire match, making costly 18 unforced errors – three times the number made by Vondrousova. The Czech will next face Spanish Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals.
Meanwhile, Osaka said that she was disappointed by her shock defeat but happy with how her maiden Games experience went. “For me, I’m really glad to be here. I’m sad that I lost of course, but all-in-all, really happy with my first Olympic experience,” she told reporters after her match.
Osaka is the second high-profile star to bow out of the Tokyo Olympics after World No.1 and Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty was beaten in Sunday’s first round.
