Osaka, the star of the opening ceremony, defeated China’s
Zheng Saisai 6-1, 6-4 in her first match since taking an eight-week break for
mental health reasons.
“I feel like more than anything I’m just focused on playing
tennis. Playing the Olympics has been a dream of mine since I was a kid,” said
Osaka, chosen as the first tennis player to light the Olympic cauldron on
Friday.
“I feel like the break that I took was very needed, but I
feel definitely a little bit refreshed and happy again.”
The Australian Open champion had not played since May when
she walked out of Roland Garros saying that media commitments were harming her
mental health.
Osaka showed few signs of rust as she reeled off the opening
five games on the Ariake Coliseum center court, which likely would have been
packed to capacity if not for a spectator ban because of coronavirus
restrictions.
The second seed broke the 52nd-ranked Zheng for a 2-1 lead
in the second set and closed out an 87-minute victory on her third match point.
The 23-year-old Osaka is attempting to become Japan’s first
Olympic tennis champion. She will play Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in the
last 32.
Osaka is now the clear favorite for gold after Barty, the
reigning Wimbledon champion, dropped serve twice in each set and made 55
unforced errors in a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Spain’s 48th-ranked Sara Sorribes Tormo.
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