Djokovic & Osaka emerge as tennis gold favourites
Men’s world number one Novak Djokovic and Japan’s hometown
hope Naomi Osaka have emerged as the favourites to claim the men’s and women’s tennis
gold medals at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Djokovic eased his way into the third round of the competition with a straight sets win over Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff earlier on Monday and will now face Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for a spot in the last eight of the competition.
The Serbian star fired down fourteen aces against Struff in a masterclass performance as he chases a unprecedented Golden Slam this year.
"I was struggling with certain things in the first round, but today was far more pleasant to play, just a higher level of tennis on my side," said Djokovic.
"I'm very pleased with the way I felt on the court."
"I think that once you reach the top spots in the rankings and start winning Slams, you're going to experience different kinds of expectations and pressure from yourself and people around.
"Being a Grand Slam champion and being number one in the world carries a lot of weight."
With the Australian Open. French Open and Wimbledon titles to his name this year, a gold medal and the US Open title will give him all the major trophies for 2021. The pressure that comes from winning those titles is significant for Djokovic.
"I think that once you reach the top spots in the rankings and start winning Slams, you're going to experience different kinds of expectations and pressure from yourself and people around.
"Being a Grand Slam champion and being number one in the world carries a lot of weight."
The men’s draw sees the top seeds all through their first round at least with men’s second seed Daniil Medvedev into the third round. Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas faces American Francis Tiafoe in the second round.
The women’s draw has been thrown wide open with first seed Ashleigh Barty and third seed Aryna Sabalenka both out of the competition.
These results have given second seed Naomi Osaka a strong run into the latter stages of the tournament.
Osaka is into the third round after beating Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in straight sets. She was worried going into the match but showed her class to power through to the next round.
"Honestly, I feel like I was a bit more nervous before the match," said Osaka.
"I felt a lot of butterflies, but I think as I started playing and feeling more comfortable, I knew that no matter what it would be a great match."
"It definitely would mean a lot for me to win gold here, but I know it's a process.
"I know that these are the best players in the world and I honestly haven't played in a while so I'm trying to take it one match at a time. But all in all I'm just really happy to be here."
