Osaka cruises at Olympics as Djokovic resumes golden quest
Tokyo, Monday
Japanese star Naomi Osaka raced into the third round of the Tokyo Olympics tennis tournament on Monday as world number one Novak Djokovic continued his pursuit of a Golden Grand Slam.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka powered past Switzerland’s 49th-ranked Viktorija Golubic 6-3, 6-2 in just over an hour, playing her second match in as many days after lighting the Olympic cauldron on Friday.
“Honestly, I feel like I was a bit more nervous before the match,” said Osaka.
“I felt a lot of butterflies, but I think as I started playing and feeling more comfortable, I knew that no matter what it would be a great match.”
Osaka won seven games in a row from 3-3 in the first set to seize control of the match at Ariake Tennis Park, where gentle breeze and slightly overcast skies made for more pleasant conditions after hot sunshine brought the extreme weather policy into play in round one.
She is the highest-ranked player left in the women’s draw following the shock exit of world number one and Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty.
“It definitely would mean a lot for me to win gold here, but I know it’s a process,” said Osaka, who plays 2019 French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova or Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu for a place in the quarter-finals.
“I know that these are the best players in the world, and I honestly haven’t played in a while so I’m trying to take it one match at a time. But all in all I’m just really happy to be here.”
Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo backed up her defeat of Barty with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over France’s Fiona Ferro.
French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova beat Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandez 6-2, 6-4, while two-time Grand Slam winner Garbine Muguruza swatted China’s Wang Qiang aside for the loss of just three games.
Maria Sakkari, who will team up with Stefanos Tsitsipas for Greece in mixed doubles, defeated Serbia’s Nina Stojanovic 6-1, 6-2 the day after celebrating her 26th birthday.
“It is one of the best presents I have given myself in 26 years that I’m alive. To spend my birthday here, I don’t know if it will happen again in my life,” said Sakkari.
Later on Monday, Djokovic takes on Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany for a spot in the last 16. - AFP
