Japan's great hope for tennis gold Naomi Osaka has made a shock exit from the Olympic Games today.
Naomi Osaka waves after lighting the flame at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Photo: AFP
Osaka was beaten in the third round of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic tennis singles tournament in a blow to home spirits.
The world number two was swiped aside 6-1 6-4 by Czech Marketa Vondrousova in an early shock on day four of the Games.
The tennis event has now lost both of its top drawcards after world number one 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 Tokyo blue courts and never settled into a rhythm as Vondrousova never looked back.
Japan's Naomi Osaka joins top seed Ash Barty on the sidelines. Photo: Tokyo Olympics
The Japanese player sprayed a costly 18 unforced errors throughout the match - three times the number made by Vondrousova who was the runnerup at the 2019 French Open.
Osaka, 23, a four time grand slam winner has had a troubled few months. She quit the French Open despite a first round victory after organisers fined her when she refused to attend mandatory post-match media conferences.
She said unsympathetic questioning after games impacted her mental wellbeing.
She also withdrew from the Wimbledon tournament but said she would be fit and ready to try and win a medal for her home country at the Games.
- Reuters