Women’s draw in Tokyo decimated with exits of Sabalenka, Swiatek and Kvitova

Alison Van Uytvanck, Donna Vekic and Paula Badosa cause major upsets on Day 3 of the Tokyo Olympics

Panoramic

July 26, 2021

After the shocking opening-round loss of world No 1 Ashleigh Barty on Sunday, the women’s singles draw at the Tokyo Olympics lost three more big names on Monday with third seed Aryna Sabalenka, sixth seed Iga Swiatek and two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova all going out in the second round,

Ariake Tennis Park - Tokyo, Japan - Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in action at the Tokyo Olympics — Ariake Tennis Park – Tokyo, Japan – Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic in action at the Tokyo Olympics Copyright: AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Former world No 2 Kvitova, seeded 10th this year, started on a good note on Court 5 against Alison Van Uytvanck before the Belgian powered her way through to a 5-7, 6-3, 6-0 win in two hours and nine minutes. The 31-year-old Kvitova has one Olympic medal , a singles bronze from the 2016 Rio Games, to her credit.

Minutes after Kvitova’s loss, third seeded Sabalenka was also out of the Olympics singles event. The Belarusian was defeated in a third set tiebreaker by Donna Vekic. The Croatian scored a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 victory in two hours and 36 minutes to reach the last 16.

Vekic will go on to meet 15th seed Elena Rybakina, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over beat Sweden’s Rebecca Peterson 6-2, 6-3 while Uytvanck meets seventh seed Garbine Muguruza, a 6-3, 6-0 winner over Wang Qiang.

Following these two losses, Poland’s Iga Swiatek became the third major casualty on the women’s side on Monday, going down to Spain’s Paula Badosa.

Iga Swiatek at the Tokyo Olympics – Credit: AI / Reuters / Panoramic

Badosa won 6-3, 7-6 in one hour and 49 minutes to advance to the last 16 where she will meet Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska, a 6-1, 6-3 winner over Ekaterina Alexandrova.