Tennis at the Olympics: Strong at Roland Garros – Kerber beats Osaka

Angelique Kerber is not done in Paris yet: at the Olympic tennis tournament, she defeated Naomi Osaka with a strong performance. The two big favourites for the gold medal in tennis, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, started the tournament with dominant performances. Iga Swiatek, the world number one, also continued her winning march with confidence to Roland Garros.

Angelique Kerber blew kisses to the spectators and celebrated her opening win under the Paris floodlights. The 36-year-old reached the second round of the Paris Olympics with a brilliant performance and postponed the end of her singles career by at least one match. In a clash between two former world No. 1s, Kerber beat Japan's Naomi Osaka 7-5 6-3 late on Saturday, showing some exciting tennis at times.

Romanian Cristian awaits in the second round

In the second round, she will face 2016 silver medalist Jacqueline Adina Cristian of Romania, ranked 66th in the world. Kerber will also compete in doubles with Laura Siegemund.

“It wasn't an easy match,” said the Kiel native, adding that she was very proud. “Naomi is a great champion. I knew I had to play my best today. I enjoyed every moment. The last dance is not over yet.”

Three-time Grand Slam champion Kerber announced shortly before the Summer Games that she would end her long career after Paris. After giving birth to her daughter Lijana, Kerber ventured back to the tour, but was unable to build on her past achievements.

Bumpy at first, then gets stronger.

On Court Philippe Chatrier, Kerber was able to enjoy the affection of the crowd as soon as she arrived. However, the duel between the two tennis players, both of whom returned from maternity leave at the start of this season, got off to a rocky start. Osaka pushed former world number one Kerber, who was 10 years her senior, into a defensive stance with her powerful punches and quickly took a 3-1 lead.

But as is often the case in her career, Kerber responded with her irrepressible will and also took her opponent's serve. When the score was 3:4, she shouted loudly: “Come on now.” With a clean sheet, Kerber was able to take the next game to make it 6:5 and a little later, after 38 minutes, she was able to celebrate her first set victory inside the penalty area. After 3:3 in the second set, Kerber took complete control of the match and won with confidence.

Osaka returns after maternity leave

For Kerber, her third Olympic singles title now finds an unexpected continuation. In 2012 in London, she lost in the quarterfinals to eventual bronze medalist Victoria Asarenko of Belarus, and in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro she lost in the final to Monica Puig of Puerto Rico and took the silver medal. Kerber has cancelled her Tokyo debut in 2021.

In Tokyo, Osaka, 26, like Kerber a mother of a daughter since 2023, made a big appearance when she lit the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony. However, the four-time Grand Slam singles champion failed to make it to the round of 16.

Djokovic – show of force Against Ebden

Novak Djokovic started the Olympic tennis tournament in Paris with a show of strength. The record Grand Slam champion, who is still missing Olympic gold from his unique collection, defeated Australian Matthew Ebden 6-0, 6-1 at Roland Garros. French Open winners Carlos Alcaraz and Iga Swiatek also advanced without any problems.

The matches were played under closed roofs on the two big courts, Court Philippe Chatrier and Court Suzanne Lenglen, while it was raining outside and outdoor matches were not possible. Djokovic injured his knee during a Grand Slam tournament in Paris in the spring, but after surgery and a quick recovery, he reached the final again at Wimbledon.

Djokovic awaits duel with Nadal

He still has to wait for his first title this season, but Djokovic said before the tournament: “My expectations are always high, I can't and don't want to change that.” In the second round he could face his long-time rival Rafael Nadal. His doubles partner Alcaraz continued his winning streak on the red clay at Roland Garros.

After his triumph in early June with a final win over Alexander Zverev, Alcaraz also won his opening Olympic match against outsider Hadi Habib of Lebanon. At 6:3, 6:1, the world number 275 was at least slightly better than Ebden against Djokovic.

Swiatek wins 22nd straight Roland Garros

World No. 1 Swiatek of Poland easily won her opening match against Romanian Irina-Camila Begu 6-2, 7-5. Swiatek is well-versed on the red clay courts of Paris, and this was her second consecutive win at Roland Garros. The Pole could become only the second player in the professional era to win French Open and Olympic gold in the same year. So far, only German tennis icon Steffi Graf has achieved this – but she achieved more success in 1988: the “Golden Slam”, all four Grand Slam titles and the gold medal at the Games in Seoul.

Rain: Three German matches cancelled

The first day in Paris was marked by hours of rain. The opening matches of five German professionals were also cancelled. The women's doubles of Tamara Korbach/Tatiana Maria and the men's doubles of Jan-Lennard Struff/Dominik Koepfer will have to wait until Sunday if the weather is supposed to improve. The singles match between Laura Siegemund and American Danielle Collins was also cancelled.