Naomi Osaka breezed through her first two matches in her first tournament since she dropped out of the French Open in June, citing concerns for her mental health.
But in Round 3 Osaka lost, 6-4, 6-1, to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic in barely over one hour.
The defeat ended Osaka’s run at the Tokyo Games after she had delivered an early highlight by lighting the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony.
Even with immense pressure to perform for the host country, Osaka’s path toward a deep run seemed to get easier when other top players, including Ashleigh Barty, the world No.