Reuters
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Tennis – Women’s Singles – Round 3 – Ariake Tennis Park – Tokyo, Japan – July 27, 2021. Naomi Osaka of Japan walks off after losing her third round match against Marketa Vondrousova of Czech Republic REUTERS/Mike Segar
Reuters
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Tennis – Women’s Singles – Round 3 – Ariake Tennis Park – Tokyo, Japan – July 27, 2021. Naomi Osaka of Japan walks off after losing her third round match against Marketa Vondrousova of Czech Republic REUTERS/Mike Segar
World #2 Naomi Osaka returned to competitive action at the Tokyo Olympics for the first time since withdrawing from the French Open. Although she cruised past China’s Zheng Saisai and Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in her first two matches, she faced a tremendous challenge in Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova today.
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Home favorite crashes out in embarrassing fashion
The Japanese star suffered a shock upset at the hands of Vondrousova, who took an impressive straight sets victory. Although Osaka fought back in the second set, she couldn’t save herself from losing 1-6, 4-6 to the unseeded Czech.
The defeat means Osaka‘s challenge to clinch a gold medal on home soil ended in disappointing fashion. Despite that, there’s no doubt that Vondrousova was better on the day than the World #2. This marked Osaka’s first defeat before the quarterfinals of a hard court tournament since the 2020 Australian Open.
Reuters
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Tennis – Women’s Singles – Round 3 – Ariake Tennis Park – Tokyo, Japan – July 27, 2021. Marketa Vondrousova of Czech Republic shakes hands with Naomi Osaka of Japan after winning her third round match REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw
After the match, tennis fans took to Twitter to express their feelings of shock and awe after the biggest upset of the Tokyo Olympics. Here are some of the best reactions to Osaka’s defeat on Twitter.
Daring to dream.
🇨🇿 Marketa Vondrousova is the first player through to the women’s singles quarterfinals, upsetting Naomi Osaka in straight sets. #Olympics • #Tennis • #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/wWVyxva7Kz
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) July 27, 2021
lol at #Vondrousova drop shotting #Osaka to death here #Olympics #Tennis
— Cyvasse (@Cyvasse_Khal) July 27, 2021
Naomi Osaka bettors right now #Olympics #Tennis pic.twitter.com/K9wRKiHJgb
— Howard Ratner’s Son (@URMomsFavCapper) July 27, 2021
https://twitter.com/iamwoleojo/status/1419878610534608913?s=20
Osaka doesn’t look like herself right now. #Tennis #Olympics
— Emmanuel Camarillo (@mannycam) July 27, 2021
Wow definitely did not see Naomi dropping the first set 6-1😬 keep battling @naomiosaka #Tennis
— Aodhán Doyle (@AodhanDoyle) July 27, 2021
osaka not feeling the ball to start off, vondrousova taking great chances early in this encounter #Tokyo2020 #tennis
— Matthias Lee (@ml_matthias) July 27, 2021
Osaka won a point at the net 😱 #Tennis #Tokyo2020
— wtaaddict (@wtaaddict) July 27, 2021
Doesn’t help that her opponent is a lefty and she can’t seem to read her serve #Tennis #Olympics
— Wannabe WAG (@chumaninande) July 27, 2021
Damn! Naomi lost her serve again. #tennis #tokyo2020 #Olympics pic.twitter.com/gbhgyTwTwZ
— Ara (@lefilmara) July 27, 2021
Naomi doesn’t look into this match at all. Very much going thru the motions. #tennis
— Regina George (@DJKMean) July 27, 2021
I don’t know why but I legit had a bad feeling for Naomi coming into this match and now…. 🙃 #Tennis #Olympics
— Danny (@dajosc11) July 27, 2021
I’ll be Vondrousova’s biggest fan if she wins this match. #tennis #Olympics
— samantha 🌸☀️🥐🍵🌈✨ (@sbjayne) July 27, 2021
Vondrousova #CZE just to good with the slice. Where is Osaka's power? #Tennis
— KING WOLE OJO (@iamwoleojo) July 27, 2021
Vondrousova might want to try a drop shot on every single point… 🥲 #Tennis #Tokyo2020
— wtaaddict (@wtaaddict) July 27, 2021
https://twitter.com/iamwoleojo/status/1419882685057675273?s=20
Gran juego de Marketa Vondrousova 😱 Capaz y elimina a Naomi Osaka 😭😱 #Tennis #Olympics pic.twitter.com/wtNJLx7nte
— Andrea (@andrearendon__) July 27, 2021
I’d say Osaka’s getting cooked, but she’s really cooking herself. 😩#Tennis #Olympics
— Danny (@dajosc11) July 27, 2021
#NaomiOsaka knocked out in another huge #tennis upset! #Olympics
— 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪𝕋𝕖𝕝𝕝𝕖𝕣 (@chemingineer) July 27, 2021
HUGE UPSET !!
Naomi Osaka defeated by Vondrousova. This is just crazy.#Olympics #Tennis
— Jojo (@jojogotschwifty) July 27, 2021
Ah Naomi. What a depressing way to go out, especially after playing two really good matches in her return. Especially on home turf. 🙁
Just sucks so much. #Tennis #Olympics
— Danny (@dajosc11) July 27, 2021
Vondrousova with a convincing straight-set rout of Osaka, and I say – once again – that this women’s #Tennis tournament is wide open. Chance for Muguruza? #Tokyo2020
— George Gerbo (@Gerbo3) July 27, 2021
How will Naomi Osaka bounce back?
Reuters
Tokyo 2020 Olympics – Tennis – Women’s Singles – Round 2 – Ariake Tennis Park – Tokyo, Japan – July 26, 2021. Naomi Osaka of Japan reacts after winning her second round match against Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland REUTERS/Mike Segar
We can best assess this devastating loss as an error-strewn contest. Losing to the unseeded Czech youngster would hamper the world #2’s confidence ahead of the final Grand Slam of the year. However, if there’s anyone who knows how to bounce back from defeat, it’s Naomi Osaka.
How does Naomi Osaka bounce back from this massive loss? Will the former US Open Champion make a triumphant return at the tournament that brought her fame and recognition?
READ MORE: Tokyo Olympics 2020 Women?s Tennis Favorite Naomi Osaka Knocked Out by Marketa Vondrousova