Upset Alert! Big names falter as Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Petra Kvitova bow out of Tokyo Olympics
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Aryna Sabalenka, Petra Kvitova and Iga Swiatek
On day 3 of the competition at the Tokyo Olympics, several medal contenders and big names in the women’s singles event bowed out of the competition. Third seed Aryna Sabalenka, 2020 French Open champion Iga Swiatek and multiple grand slam champion Petra Kvitova came out second best in their respective matches.
Aryna Sabalenka loses to Donna Vekic in a thriller
Third seed Aryna Sabalenka faced Donna Vekic in the second round. Sabalenka, who reached the semifinals of Wimbledon earlier this month has been in amazing form and was a medal contender this week in Tokyo. But Vekic had different plans and beat Sabalenka in a 3-set thriller 6-4,3-6,7-6(3).
Sabalenka struggled with Vekic’s baseline pace and a poor service game gave the break to Vekic. The Croat consolidated it to win the opening set 6-4. But Sabalenka showcased why she is one of the strongest player on tour currently, and hammered clean forehand winners to take the second set 6-3. The final set went down the distance in the tie breaker with Vekic coming about the victor.
Iga Swiatek fails to get past Paula Badosa
Sixth seed Iga Swiatek also lost to in form Spaniard Paula Badosa in the second round. Badosa, who has been in amazing form this clay season proved that she is an all-court player and beat the Pole in straight sets 6-3,7-6(4).
Swiatek struggled with her serve and had no answer at times for Badosa’s cracking baseline shots. The Spaniard came with a plan, pushing the Pole deep and opened up the court for a winner. Her strategy worked and she took the opening set 6-3. Swiatek served much better in the second set and matched Badosa in the rallies. Neither player could get a decisive break and the set went into a tiebreaker. Badosa came out the victor to reach the Round of 16.
Alison Van Uytvanck too good for Petra Kvitova
3 days ago, Petra Kvitova marched into the opening ceremony as Czech Republic’s flag bearer but unfortunately, she won’t be able to bring glory to her nation this time as she was knocked out in the second round by Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck. The Czech 10th seed lost in three sets 5-7,6-3,6-0.
The match started with a lot on intensity from both sides. Both the players were on song and were hitting winners and making marginal errors. The first serve was in place as they both held serve. It was Kvitova who broke at the end and took the set 7-5. But the double Wimbledon champion looked completely out of sorts in the next too sets. She didn’t have the legs for majority of rallies and was making a lot of unforced errors. Van Uytvanck took the next two sets 6-3,6-0 and won the match.
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Lakshya Chopra
(2595 Articles Published)