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Naomi Osaka knocked out of Olympic tennis tournament in massive upset loss

By Baigen Seawell

Naomi Osaka of Team Japan prepares to serve during her Women's Singles Third Round match on day four of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)
Naomi Osaka of Team Japan prepares to serve during her Women's Singles Third Round match on day four of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images) /
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Naomi Osaka’s debut was long-awaited at the Tokyo Olympics. However, the early upset from Marketa Vondrousova, was not expected.

Since Naomi Osaka’s bowing out of Wimbledon, injuries from Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams and an early exit for CoCo Gauff due to COVID, we have to expect the unexpected.

Of the athletes listed, Naomi is the only one to make a reappearance in the 2021 Olympics. Carrying the Olympic cauldron and lighting the flame in the Opening Ceremony last week, the excitement was all there to see how she’d write her comeback story.

But we weren’t expecting it to go like this at all, and not on her home soil.

Naomi Osaka made an early exit in the third round of the Olympic Tennis tourney in back-to-back sets

Osaka took on Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova in the third round of the tournament Tuesday, where it was a game of catch-up for her. Vondrousova came out swinging, with a solid lead in both sets. She’d walk off winning both sets 6-1 and 6-4 respectively, but as she told ESPN, it wasn’t easy playing a baby GOAT.

"“I also [beat] Simona [Halep] twice, but I think now she [Osaka] is the greatest,” Vondrousova said. “The greatest in the game, and she was also the face of the Olympics, so it was tough for her, I think, to play like this.”"

Naomi’s return was met with excitement and we wanted her to feel good when she came back. But the pressure of playing on the grandest stage for your home country can and will get you flustered. She acknowledged it in the post-game presser saying that she’s never played on a stage like this.

Though she was taken out of the tournament early this year, she has plenty of life to live and tennis to play. Her comeback story may not have been the way she wanted it to be, but the redux will hit even harder next Olympic Cycle.

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