Naomi Osaka Eliminated From Olympic Games

Naomi Osaka was eliminated from the Tokyo Olympics after losing to Marketa Vondrousova. 

Vondrousova delivered several drop-shots that Osaka missed as she stood behind the baseline.

“I’m disappointed in every loss, but I feel like this one sucks more than the others,” Osaka said.

“I feel like my attitude wasn’t that great because I don’t really know how to cope with that pressure, so that’s the best that I could have done in this situation.”

“I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this,” she said. “I think it’s maybe because I haven’t played in the Olympics before, and for the first year [it] was a bit much,” she said.

Osaka, the second-ranked tennis player globally, didn’t have much to say after the game when reporters asked her if the weather or her mental health break contributed to the match’s outcome.

“I would say that everyone played in the same conditions, so it didn’t really matter that much,” Osaka said.

Osaka was adamant about taking a two-month break to prioritize her mental health — she withdrew from the French Open in May and did not compete at the Wimbledon. The tennis star says that she has suffered from “bouts of depression” after her win against Serena Williams in 2018 at the U.S. Open.

“The best thing for the tournament, the other players, and my well-being is that I withdraw so that everyone can get back to focusing on the tennis going on in Paris,” Osaka said in May. “I never wanted to be a distraction and accept that my timing is not ideal and my message could have been clearer.”

Vondrousova, who hails from the Czech Republic, told reporters after the match that she could not imagine how much pressure Osaka is under to perform well in her home country. 

“It tough for her also playing in Japan and in the Olympics,” Vondrousova said. 

“I also [beat] Simona [Halep] twice, but I think now she [Osaka] is the greatest,” Vondrousova said. “The greatest in the game, and she was also the face of the Olympics, so it was tough for her, I think, to play like this.”