Naomi Osaka could have sent Angelique Kerber to retirement after their match at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but the German clearly proved that she's not quite done with the sport yet.
A few days ago, Kerber announced that the Paris Olympics would be her final event as a professional tennis player. It was a long time coming, in a way, because she has been away from the sport in a meaningful way for a very long time.
She was away with pregnancy first and returned earlier this year, but her comeback wasn't what she had hoped for. The result was her confirming that this would be her final tournament.
Her first-round opponent in the French capital, Osaka, had a great Roland Garros experience, nearly beating Iga Swiatek two months ago. But in this match, she wasn't able to find the same level, losing to a very inspired Kerber.
The Japanese player took an early break in this match, but she also gave it back right away. Both players, who reached the former World No. 1 rank on the WTA Tour, struggled in live play because neither could hit the ball very well at the start.
There were plenty of mistakes on both sides, but Osaka brought back her hard-hitting style, which she showed earlier this year at Roland Garros. It was the right idea but the execution fell short because Kerber had an excellent response to that.
The German is a counter-puncher by nature, and it showed in this match. Kerber outplayed Osaka down the stretch to win the opening set 7-5, as the Japanese player simply missed too much.
She dropped her serve due to a couple of bad unforced errors, totaling 15 in 12 games of play. That was too much against a motivated and solid Kerber, who wanted to push her retirement back.
Kerber's approach was smart because she had a lot of variety. The drop shots, in particular, came out in spotty moments and did great because Osaka isn't known as a speedy player.
She struggled with them all day long. The return was another point of struggle for Osaka because, often, it was a short ball, which Kerber could punish in different ways.
The German maintained a high percentage of hit first serves, which troubled her opponent all day long. She, too, was dominant on her serve and served better in the second set, which allowed her to win her service games more easily.
Unfortunately, like in the opening set, Osaka had that one game where she could not hit the court, and Kerber broke her serve as a result. Her inability to do anything on the return was the major problem.
Until then, she won only one point on return in three games. In the end, it was a win for Kerber, who won the match 7-5, 6-3, as Osaka just couldn't find the necessary level.
She didn't look that great in this match, but credit goes to Kerber, who won the match thanks to brilliant tactics and execution.
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