Olympia 2020: favorites die among women - Sabalenka, Swiatek, Kvitova out
With Aryna Sabalenka , Iga Swiatek and Petra Kvitova , three contenders for a medal were eliminated in the second round of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo on Monday.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Jul 26, 2021, 11:28 am
The biggest surprise is the end of Aryna Sabalenka against Donna Vekic. Not because the Croatian is not capable of great achievements. But Vekic could hardly play tennis due to injuries in the last few months, while Sabalenka had catapulted into the top five in the WTA world rankings. Vekic won 6: 4, 3: 6 and 7: 6 (3) and plays against Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.
Iga Swiatek, the 2020 French Open winner, was also eliminated. Swiatek lost 3: 6 and 5: 7 against the increasingly stronger Paula Badosa from Spain. Badosa will face the Argentinian Nadia Podoroska in the next round. And Petra Kvitova's gold dream has also come to an end: The two-time Wimbledon winner was defeated by Alyson van Uytvanck from Belgium 7: 5, 3: 6 and 0: 6. Kvitova carried the flag at the opening ceremony for the Czech Republic.
Earlier on Monday, Naomi Osaka had surely prevailed against Viktoria Golubic, and Elina Svitolina is also in the round of 16. The Ukrainian who was newly married to Gael Monfils had to stretch a lot in the 4: 6, 6: 3 and 6: 4 against Ajla Tomljanovic. Svitolina is now playing against Maria Sakkari. Karolina Pliskova was the last woman to qualify for the next round on Monday. The Wimbledon finalist won against Carla Suarez Navarro 6: 3, 6: 7 (0) and 6: 1.