Djoko, Osaka power on

Novak Djokovic strolled into the third round of the Tokyo Olympics tennis tournament on Monday as Japanese star Naomi Osakarsquos path to gold opened up further after a host of leading womenrsquos seeds exitedDjokovic smacked 14 aces in a 64 63 win over Germanyrsquos 48thranked JanLennard Struff and will play Spainrsquos Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for a place in thequarterfinalsThe World No 1 had led calls for organisers to push back start times to avoid the worst of the punishing heat after blazing sunshine brought the extreme weather policy into play in Round One But a gentle breeze and slightly overcast skies at Ariake Tennis Park made for less brutal conditions on the third day of the Games ldquoI was struggling with certain things in the first round but today was far more pleasant to play just a higher level of tennis on my siderdquo said DjokovicldquoIrsquom very pleased with the way I felt on the courtrdquo As Djokovic edges closer towards a Golden Grand Slam after already snapping up the Australian Open Roland Garros and Wimbledon titles this year he appears unfazed by the rising pressureldquoI think that once you reach the top spots in the rankings and start winning Slams yoursquore going to experience different kinds of expectations and pressure from yourself and people aroundrdquo said Djokovic ldquoBeing a Grand Slam champion and being number one in the world carries a lot of weightrdquoJapanrsquos Naomi Osaka returns to Switzerlandrsquos Viktorija Golubic yesterday PicAFPOsaka raced into the Last 16 as she powered past Switzerlandrsquos Viktorija Golubic 63 62 in just over an hour playing her second match in as many days after lighting the Olympic cauldron on FridayldquoHonestly I feel like I was a bit more nervous before the matchrdquo said Osaka ldquoI felt a lot of butterflies but I think as I started playing and feeling more comfortable I knew that no matter what it would be a great matchrdquo Meanwhile third seed Aryna Sabalenka was beaten by Donna Vekic in the second round Sabalenka lost 64 36 76 to Vekic while 2020 French Open champion Iga Swiatek was left in tears after going down in straight sets to Spainrsquos Paula Badosa Belgiumrsquos Alison Van Uytvanck knocked out Czech 10th seed Petra Kvitova in three sets as Sara Sorribes Tormo backed up her defeat of Barty with a 61 64 victory over Fiona FerroAlso Read Saina Nehwal and husband P Kashyaps spiritual visit to Prayagraj VaranasiThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever