THERE WILL BE no gold medal for the face of the Tokyo Olympics after Naomi Osaka was beaten by Marketa Vondrousova in the third round of the women’s singles.
The 23-year-old had hoped to play a starring role in the Games on the court as well as off it but lighting the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony will be the high point.
Osaka had looked good in her first two matches, particularly against Viktorija Golubic on Monday, but former French Open finalist Vondrousova was a step up in level and the young Czech produced an excellent performance under the roof at the Ariake Tennis Park to win 6-1 6-4.
Vondrousova mixed her trademark drop shots with big serves and powerful groundstrokes and defended brilliantly when Osaka got her game going in the second set.
The four-time Grand Slam champion did not move as well as she can, perhaps a legacy of the eight-week break she took for mental health reasons prior to this tournament.
Osaka had won 25 of her last 26 matches on hard courts, winning Grand Slam titles at the US Open and Australian Open and, particularly given the early defeat for Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty, the stage seemed set for her to claim arguably the biggest title of them all.
But instead it is 22-year-old Vondrousova who becomes the first player through to the quarter-finals, where she will take on either Paula Badosa of Spain or Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska.
Osaka, who had hoped to become the first Japanese tennis player to win Olympic gold, had no answer to Vondrousova in the first set.
She responded well at the start of the second with a break of serve but was quickly pegged back and, although she saved two match points at 5-4, another followed and Osaka sent a backhand wide.
Ogbene and obafemi should our front two going forward. Their pace alone would concern most defences. Their finishing is on par or better than parrott. Parrott very wasteful and over admired by Kenny.
Kenny out !!
@Gary O’Rourke: do expand on that please. You haven’t a clue pal
I was a Kenny supporter up to now but after his inexplicable decision to leave Parrott on the pitch and take Obafemi off I’ve changed my mind.
@Joe Healy: over one sub… Ya thats the reason to sack him. Another keyboard warriors fook me they are everywhere tonight. Great display game plan, control, an actual plan to beat the high press. We didn’t convert our chances simple as, Maybe you didn’t see THAT Joe too busy with the boys on the pub.
@Joe Healy: Maybe there was a reason we’re not aware of. Obafemi is not playing at the minute and perhaps had a knock or was out on his feet.
Game wasn’t just lost on the pitch. It was the sidelines too. Ogbene should have started. Inform player scoring goals. Parrot was too wasteful. No goals in the league for Preston.. frustrating display from Ireland.
Can any Kenny Out believer please explain? You’d swear he was underachieving with this group of players the way they go on and we have defined right to get a result last night. Scotland are a better team with players at a higher level than us. We were always underdogs last night. It’s the worst crop of players I’ve ever seen, but it is the most enjoyable I’ve seen an Ireland team play since Mick McCarthy 20 years ago. Yes the result was frustrating last night because we deserved something, but by god you couldn’t fault that performance against a superior side to us. So to the Kenny doubters, no other manager would get any more out of this team and leave him in the job.