In what comes as a major upset, Naomi Osaka of Japan is out of the Olympics after she lost to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in a third round match on Tuesday.
Osaka, who was the second seeded woman's player at the Olympics, had a rough start to the match and lost in straight sets 1-6, 4-6 to Vondrousova, the world number 42.
Osaka made several unforced errors in the 68-minute match. "The second seed was broken twice… as 2019 French Open runner-up Vondrousova raced away with the first set. Osaka broke in the second set but relinquished the early advantage with a double fault that allowed Vondrousova to level at two games apiece. The four-time Grand Slam winner grappled with inconsistency, and even when given a sniff of regaining the initiative she had no response to Vondrousova's array of crafty drop shots," AFP reported.
Vondrousova will now play Spain's Paula Badosa or Nadia Podoroska of Argentina.
Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron, was considered a favourite to grab the gold medal for Japan. Osaka had played three matches in three days since lighting the Olympic cauldron on July 23.
