Naomi Osaka stunned as face of Tokyo Games knocked out of Olympic tennis

For a short moment deep in the second set of what was to be the most crushing defeat of her year, it seemed like Naomi Osaka may just have been able to tap into the resolve that has served her so well in her career. Down a set and serving to stay in the Olympics, she saved consecutive match points, one with a blazing forehand winner, and crept up to a point within a momentum-swinging hold of serve.

But as was the case throughout a tough, lethargic day on the court, the resolve was not present. The mental tank was dry. She ended the match soon after with two of her many backhand errors throughout the day as her dreams of winning an Olympic gold medal on home soil in Japan came to a crashing end. She was defeated 6-1, 6-4 by the Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova.

Perhaps under regular circumstances, as regular as being seen as the face of the Olympics can be, this may have ended differently. But in addition to all the pressure that has been building since the beginning of the year and even longer, the type of pressure on which Osaka has thrived in the past, it also came in the wake of her decision to withdraw from the French Open and Wimbledon in order to prioritise her mental health.

Even as she retreated back to the US after her decision to skip press conferences in Paris led to a mass of attention and criticism, the noise was deafening. The pressure cooker of the Olympics was no help. Her defeat seemed like the consequences of all of

Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters The Czech player Marketa Vondrousova shakes hands with Naomi Osaka as the Japanese bowed out of the Tokyo Olympics women’s singles.

Photograph: Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Naomi Osaka attempts to compose herself during her third-round defeat against Marketa Vondrousova at Ariake Tennis Park.