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Naomi Osaka headlined the stars in action as the second round of the women’s singles tournament got underway at the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
Top-seeded Ash Barty already crashed out in the first round, with No. 11 Jennifer Brady and No. 12 Elise Mertens also coming up short in their opening match.
Osaka, Garbine Muguruza and Aryna Sabalenka couldn’t afford to take their opponents lightly Monday.
Women’s Singles Results—July 26
No. 2 Naomi Osaka def. Viktorija Golubic 6-3, 6-2
No. 7 Garbine Muguruza def. Wang Qiang 6-3, 6-0
No. 8 Barbora Krejcikova def. Leylah Annie Fernandez 6-2, 6-4
No. 13 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova def. Anna-Lena Friedsam 6-1, 6-1
No. 14 Maria Sakkari def. Nina Stojanovic 6-1, 6-2
No. 15 Elena Rybakina def. Rebecca Peterson 6-2, 6-3
Camila Giorgi def. Elena Vesnina 6-3, 6-1
Monday Recap
Osaka wasn’t at her best but didn’t encounter much trouble putting away Viktorija Golubic.
The two exchanged serves for the first seven games of the opening set before Osaka earned a critical break to go up 5-3. The The four-time Grand Slam champion then broke Golubic twice early in the second frame to take a commanding 4-0 lead.
Osaka dropped eight points on serve over the course of the match. She collected three aces and 22 groundstroke winners.
On Her Turf @OnHerTurf
Naomi Osaka wins her second match in straight sets (again) to advance to the third round of the <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/TokyoOlympics?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#TokyoOlympics</a> ????<a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/OlympicHERstory?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#OlympicHERstory</a> <a href=”https://t.co/f7UyPnV04W”>pic.twitter.com/f7UyPnV04W</a>
Having withdrawn from the French Open and Wimbledon, the 23-year-old isn’t lacking for sharpness in Tokyo.
Muguruza and 14th-seeded Maria Sakkari were similarly dominant in their outings.
Wang Qiang provided some resistance for Muguruza in the first set and battled back to within a game of the Spaniard at 3-4. But she dropped serve in the next game, which began a streak of eight straight games for Muguruza.
Wang committed eight unforced errors and won eight points over the second set as she fell apart.
Likewise, Nina Stojanovic was her own worst enemy against Sakkari. Committing 30 unforced errors and five double faults in two sets won’t get it done against an opponent as good as the 26-year-old Greek.
Sakkari took a 4-1 lead in the first set thanks to a break in the fourth game. The two needed 15 points to determine the sixth game, which ended in another break of serve as Sakkari took firm control.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova made quick work of Anna-Lena Friedsam, sending the German packing in 54 minutes.
Friedsam only had five unforced errors to her name but was simply overpowered by the 30-year-old Russian. Pavlyuchenkova had nine forehand winners and two more on her backhand. She also collected three aces and won 21 of her 26 first-serve points.
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