Naomi Osaka, Representing Japan, Knocked From Olympics In Stunning Upset 

Tennis player Naomi Osaka was eliminated from the Tokyo Olympics in a stunning defeat to the Czech Republic’s Marketa Vondrousova, who’s ranked No. 42 in comparison to No. 2-ranked Osaka.

Osaka surpassed China’s Zheng Saisai in the first round and Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in the second, but was knocked out by Vondrousova in round three.

Vondrousova won the Tuesday match in two clean sets: 6-1, 6-4.

“Osaka on Tuesday was down four games in less than 15 minutes,” NBC News reported. “The four-time Grand Slam champion then won her first service game but ended up losing the set 6-1 in just 24 minutes.” The second set was tighter before Vondrousova finished off the 23-year-old.

Osaka, who is part Japanese and part Haitian, chose to represent Japan over the United States.

“I’ve been playing under the Japan flag since I was 14,” the tennis standout said in a new self-titled Netflix docuseries. “It was never even a secret that I’m going to play for Japan for the Olympics.”

“So I don’t choose America and suddenly people are like, ‘Your black card is revoked,’” disclosed Osaka.

“And it’s like, African American isn’t the only black, you know? I don’t know, I feel like people really don’t know the difference between nationality and race because there’s a lot of black people in Brazil, but they’re Brazilian.”

As noted by Insider, Osaka relinquished her American citizenship back in 2019, before she turned 22:

“The tennis star who was born in Japan but moved to New York at the age of 3 previously held dual American and Japanese citizenship. But under Japan’s Nationality Act, those who hold dual citizenship must choose one before their 22nd birthday.”

The same year, the young player discussed on a Japanese broadcast her desire to represent Japan in the Olympics, emphasizing her “pride of the country.”

“It is a special feeling to aim for the Olympics as a representative of Japan,” she said. “I think that playing with the pride of the country will make me feel more emotional.”

“We made the decision that Naomi would represent Japan at an early age,” Osaka’s parents told The Wall Street Journal in 2018. “She was born in Osaka and was brought up in a household of Japanese and Haitian culture.”

“Quite simply, Naomi and her sister Mari have always felt Japanese so that was our only rationale. It was never a financially motivated decision nor were we ever swayed either way by any national federation,” they said.

Osaka became a household name back in 2018 when she won in an upset against tennis great Serena Williams during the U.S. Open’s women’s final.

The tennis star notably dropped out of the French Open this year over what she said were mental health struggles.

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