By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday July 21, 2021
The Olympic draws have been released, with men’s and women’s singles and doubles both dropping at 11 AM Tokyo time on Thursday, giving fans insight into what the top seeds might face to get the Gold medal.
Top-seeded Ashleigh Barty faces the tricky Sara Sorribes Tormo in her first match, and could face Fiona Ferro or Anastasija Sevastova next.
Here is Barty’s path to the Gold, if the seeds hold:
R1: Sara Sorribes Tormo
R2: Fiona Ferro or Anastasija Sevastova
R3: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
QF: Barbora Krejcikova
SF: Aryna Sabalenka or Garbine Muguruza
F: Naomi Osaka
And here is Naomi Osaka’s projected path:
R1: Zheng Saisai
R2: Viktorija Golubic or Maria Camila Osorio Serrano
R3: Kiki Bertens
QF: Iga Swiatek
SF: Karolia Pliskova or Elina Svitolina
F: Ash Barty
Osaka is making her return to tennis for the first time since she withdrew from Roland-Garros due to mental health reasons, before her second-round match.
Barty is fresh off her Wimbledon title.
Here is the complete women’s singles draw:
Notable First-Rounders Some tantalizing opening tilts are on tap at Tokyo, where play begins on Saturday July 24. Maria Sakkari vs. Anett Kontaveit, Ons Jabeur vs. Carla Suarez Navarro and Garbine Mugurzua vs. Veronika Kudermetova are some popcorn clashes.