Olympics-Tennis-Japan's Osaka returns to spotlight in Centre Court Games opener

[ASFN Admin]

Japan's Naomi Osaka will return to the spotlight on Saturday, kicking off her Olympic campaign in the first match on Centre Court as a home crowd favourite after taking a mental health break two months ago. Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and world number two, has not played a competitive match since pulling out of the French Open in May amid controversy https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/s...n-following-row-over-media-boycott-2021-05-31 over her decision to skip all press conferences at the tournament in an effort to protect her mental well-being. But with all of her major wins coming on hard courts - the same surface being used in Tokyo - the 23-year-old remains widely seen as one of host Japan's strongest gold medal contenders in a field of 64 players each for women's and men's singles that is missing some of the biggest names in the sport.

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