Osaka marches into third round of Tokyo Olympics

23-year-old Naomi Osaka will take on Marketa Vondrousova in the third round on Tuesday

Ariake Tennis Park – Tokyo, Japan – July 25, 2021. Naomi Osaka of Japan celebrates after winning her first round match against Zheng Saisai of China

What happened: World No. 2 Naomi Osaka scored a 6-3, 6-2 win over Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in the second round of the women’s singles event at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.

Why it matters: This is Osaka’s first tournament since her shocking withdrawal from Roland-Garros in May. With the Olympics being played in Tokyo, Osaka is one of the major star attractions of the Games and was the first tennis player to light the Olympic cauldron at the Olympics during Friday’s opening ceremony.

Key stat: For the second match in a row, Osaka did not lose her serve. The Japanese player held all of her nine service games in the 66-minute encounter.

Other key information: With the exit of top seed Ashleigh Barty, Osaka is now the highest ranked player and among the top medal contenders in the women’s singles event at the Tokyo Olympics.

What next : Osaka will next face former French Open runner-up Marketa Vondrousova, who defeated Romania’s Mihaela Buzarnescu 6-1, 6-2

Other key results so far:
- Vekic beat Sabalenka (3) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6
- Svitolina (4) beat Tomljanovic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4;
- Pliskova (5) beat Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-7, 6-1;
- Badosa beat Swiatek (6) 6-3, 7-6;
- Muguruza (7) beat Wang 6-3, 6-0;
- Krejcikova (8) beat Fernandez 6-2, 6-4;
- Bencic (9) beat Doi 6-2, 6-4;
- van Uytvacnk beat Kvitova (10) 5-7, 6-3, 6-0;
- Pavlyuchenkova (13) beat Friedsam 6-1, 6-1;
- Sakkari (14) beat Stojanovic 6-1, 6-2;
- Rybakina (15) beat Peterson 6-2, 6-3;
- Giorgi beat Vesnina 6-3, 6-1;
- Sorribes Tormo beat Ferro 6-1, 6-4;
- Vondrousova beat Buzarnescu 6-1, 6-2;
- Podoroska beat Alexandrova 6-1, 6-3;