The Czech world number 42 pulled off the upset of the tournament so far sending the home favorite and world number two packing.
Marketa Vondrousova stunned the world when she beat Naomi Osaka in straight sets 6-1, 6-4 at the Ariake Tennis Park under a closed roof on Center Court in 68 minutes. The former Roland Garros finalist firied 22 winners while her opponent hit 32 unforced errors in the loss.
“Naomi is a great player, she has so many grand slams, so I knew it would be a tough match,” Vondrousova told the Olympic News Service. “But I’m just very happy with my play. I played amazingly in the first set, and then the second set was really tough. I’m just happy to be through.”
It wasn’t a good start for Osaka as she was put under pressure right away down 15-40 in the first game of the match and broke to take an early 1-0 lead.
In the following game, the world number two had a chance to break right back but the world number 42 saved both and was able to consolidate the break. Vondrousova then stormed into a double break lead the next game thanks to a backhand return winner on triple breakpoint.
Osaka finally got on the board at 4-1 saving two more breakpoints in the process but it wasn’t enough as the Sokolov native served out the first set in a mere 24 minutes.
The Japanese world number two started the second set a bit better than the first earning a breakpoint in the opening game and this time she got the early break.
At 2-1, the world number 42 wasn’t about to go down without a fight, and on her second time of asking broke the Osaka native to go back on serve. At 3-3 Osaka had another to get the break back but again was denied by the Czech.
At 5-4 with Osaka serving to stay in the match, she faltered giving Vondrousova two chances to win the match, and on the second time of asking Osaka forehand sailed wide to seal the upset win.
Vondrousova books a spot in the third round where she will either face Paula Badosa of Spain or Nadia Podoroksa of Argentina.
