By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Saturday July 24, 2021
Naomi Osaka played her first competitive match in nearly two months and came away with the win.
Photo Source: Getty
It has been nearly two months since Naomi Osaka last took the court, but she made it look relatively easy in her first competitive match since withdrawing from Roland-Garros for mental health reasons on May 30.
The Japanese star, the face of these Olympics Games and the first tennis player to ever light the Olympic Cauldron during Friday night’s opening ceremony, also missed Wimbledon, but looked at ease on the court today as she took out China’s Zheng Saisai, 6-1, 6-4.
Osaka won 69 points to 47 for Zheng, and cracked 19 winners off the ground against just seven for Zheng. She won 28 of 37 first-serve points and saved all six break points she faced to win in 90 minutes.
Osaka will face Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in the second round at the Tokyo Olympics.
More to follow….