With the upset of Ashleigh Barty in the first round, all eyes were on second-seeded and Japanese superstar Naomi Osaka. Osaka came in as the favorite in the tournament and after cruising through her first two rounds, she seemed destined for a fairy tale Olympic Games.

Marketa Vondrousova had other plans though. A stunning 6-1, 6-4 win for the Czech put her through to the quarterfinals. She will face Paula Badosa for a spot in the semifinals.

An Out Of Sorts Start

The start looked anything but ordinary from Osaka who dominated her matches leading into this third-round showdown. An early break was gifted to the Czech off a wayward forehand as the errors began bunching up early for the four-time major champion.

Osaka's serve, which is a major weapon in her game, wasn't firing as Vondrousova was all over it on the day. A cross-court backhand winner put the former a double break up at 3-0, and she never looked back in the set. The Japanese star finally got on the board with a hold for 1-4, but you could tell with her body language, she was still extremely negative.

Naomi Osaka just did not find her rhythm at all in the match (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
Naomi Osaka just did not find her rhythm at all in the match (Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)

Vondrousova Takes The Victory

It was an aggressive start to begin the second set for the second seed. A break in the opening game, followed by a love hold put her up 2-0. You could sense after the hold that she began to have more positive body language. That 2-0 lead quickly evaporated after giving the break back on a double-fault.

The key game in the set was the seventh game with Osaka holding two break points after back-to-back double faults from Vondrousova. Osaka was unable to take advantage of this as the Czech moved two games away from victory.

After saving a couple of match points, Osaka faced a third one on her serve but looked in control of the point. The defense from the Czech forced the four-time major champion to go for more as another error sealed the deal for Vondrousova.

Quotes From Osaka

"I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this. 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.

“How disappointed am I? I mean, I’m disappointed in every loss, but I feel like this one sucks more than the others.”

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