Naomi Osaka knocked out of Tokyo Olympics in surprise loss
Naomi Osaka, ranked second and competing in her home country, will leave the Tokyo Olympics without a medal.
Osaka, 23, lost to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4 in the third round of the Olympic tennis tournament on Tuesday.
"I'm disappointed in every loss, but I feel like this one sucks more than the others,'' Osaka said after the match, according to ESPN.
Osaka was born in Japan but raised in the United States. She lit the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony last week in Tokyo, a moment that she described as "undoubtedly the greatest athletic achievement and honor I will ever have in my life.''
The Tokyo Olympics marked Osaka's first tournament back after taking a mental health break from professional tennis this summer.
Osaka withdrew from the French Open in June after being penalized for not doing post-match press conferences, which she said at the beginning of the tournament she would not do to preserve her mental health.
The tennis superstar also decided not to compete in Wimbledon. Her agent said at the time that Osaka would be "ready for the Olympics and is excited to play in front of her home fans.”
Osaka acknowledged the huge expectations she faced as she competed in her first Olympics.
"I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this," Osaka said after her loss. "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've taken long breaks before and I've managed to do well," added Osaka, who, according to ESPN, met with a small group of reporters after her loss. "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," she said.
ABC and ESPN are both owned by parent company, The Walt Disney Co.
