TOKYO — Two things seemed clear through the first two days of Naomi Osaka’s quest to win an Olympic gold medal. The first was how much it meant to her to be representing Japan, which bestowed her the honor of lighting the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony. The second was that her tennis seemed up to the occasion.
But that’s the amazing thing about sports. Everything we think we know can change in the blink of an eye.
Just like that, Osaka’s run is over after a shocking 6-1, 6-4 loss to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, continuing the trend of high seeds bowing out early in the women’s singles draw.