Naomi Osaka reacts to shock Marketa Vondrousova loss

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka suggested lack of matches costed her at the Tokyo Olympics. 

After her first round win at the French Open, Osaka pulled out of the rest of the tournament to focus on her mental health. 

The Japanese then missed the entire grass season. 

On Tuesday, Osaka suffered a shock 6-1 6-4 loss to Czecz Marketa Vondrousova in the Tokyo Olympics round-of-16. 

Osaka, who was making her Olympic debut, was hoping to win gold medal in her maiden Olympic appearance. 

"I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this," Osaka said, per Metro UK. 

"I think it’s maybe because I haven’t played in the Olympics before and for the first year it was a bit much.

"I think I’m glad with how I played, with taking that break that I had. I’ve taken long breaks before and I’ve managed to do well.

"I’m not saying that I did bad right now, but I do know that my expectations were a lot higher.

"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."

Osaka had big expectations 

Following her second round win over Viktorija Golubic, Osaka underlined her goal was to win it all at the Tokyo Olympics

“I put this pressure on myself to do well because I know that I don’t play that many tournaments and I feel like I watched these players playing the tournaments while I was on my break so I just really, really want to do well,” she said.

“I feel like as long as I work hard, relatively keep my head down, then good things will happen. For me, it’s dream to be here, to play the Olympics. This is my first one, so I’m just trying to cherish this experience.”

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/370cxfU