Naomi Osaka, Japan’s great hope for an elusive tennis gold medal, was beaten in the third round Tuesday at the Tokyo Olympics in a blow to home spirits.
The world No. 2 was swiped aside 6-1, 6-4, by Czech Marketa Vondrousova in a shock result at the Games.
The tennis event has now lost both of its top draw cards after world No. 1 and Wimbledon champion Ash Barty was beaten in Sunday’s first round.
Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron on Friday to open the Games, seemed out of sorts on the blue courts at Ariake Tennis Park and never settled into a rhythm as Vondrousova took an early lead and never looked back.
The Japanese player sprayed a costly 18 unforced errors throughout the match – three times the number made by Vondrousova.
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