Japanese star Naomi Osaka stormed into the third round of the tennis tournament of the Olympic Games in Tokyo on Monday as world number one Novak Djokovic continued his hunt for a Golden Grand Slam.
The four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka overtook 49th Swiss Viktorija Golubic in just over an hour 6: 3, 6: 2 and played her second match within as many days after igniting the Olympic cauldron on Friday.
“To be honest, I was a little more nervous before the game,” said Osaka.
“I felt a lot of butterflies, but I think when I started playing and became more comfortable I knew it was going to be a great game no matter what.”
Osaka won seven games in a row 3-3 in the first set to take control of the game at Ariake Tennis Park, where gentle breezes and slightly cloudy skies made for more comfortable conditions after hot sunshine dictated the round’s extreme weather policy brought one into play.
She is the top ranked player left in the women’s draw after the shocking elimination of world number one and Wimbledon winner Ashleigh Barty.
“It would definitely mean a lot to me to win gold here, but I know it’s a process,” said Osaka, who is playing against the 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova or the Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu for the quarter-finals.
“I know these are the best players in the world and I honestly haven’t played in a while so I try to play it one game at a time. But all in all, I’m really happy to be here . ” . “
The Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo underpinned her defeat against Barty with a 6-1, 6-4 win over the French Fiona Ferro.
French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova defeated Canadian teen Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-4, while two-time Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza beat China’s Wang Qiang for the loss of just three games.
– ‘Best Birthday Present’ –
Maria Sakkari, who will play in mixed doubles for Greece with Stefanos Tsitsipas, defeated the Serbian Nina Stojanovic 6: 1, 6: 2 the day after her 26th birthday.
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“It’s one of the best gifts I’ve given myself in the 26 years I’ve lived. Spending my birthday here, I don’t know if it will happen again in my life,” said Sakkari.
Later on Monday Djokovic will meet Jan-Lennard Struff from Germany for a place in the round of 16.
The Serb is the overwhelming favorite for the men’s title in an event that misses half of the men’s top 10, including 2008 Olympic champions Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
A 2008 bronze medalist, Djokovic hopes to mimic Steffi Graf’s 1988 performance, the calendar’s Golden Slam, after winning the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon earlier that year.
Alexander Zverev is a potential quarter-final opponent for Djokovic. The German strolled past Colombian Daniel Elahi Galan in his second round match 6: 2, 6: 2.
Runner-up Daniil Medvedev will face Sumit Nagal, the first Indian to win an individual Olympic match since Leander Paes took bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Aryna Sabalenka, the third-placed women from Belarus, will meet Donna Vekic in the second round, with Roland Garros winner 2020 Iga Swiatek, Elina Svitolina, Petra Kvitova and Karolina Pliskova also in action.
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