Top seeds Djokovic, Osaka continue to rumble

NOVAK Djokovic strolled into the third round of the Tokyo Olympics tennis tournament yesterday as Japanese star Naomi Osaka’s path to gold opened up further after a host of leading women’s seeds exited.

Djokovic smacked 14 aces in a 6-4, 6-3 win over Germany’s 48th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff and will play Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina for a place in the quarter-finals.

The 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.

“I 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 side,” said Djokovic.

“I’m very pleased with the way I felt on the court.”

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 pressure.

Osaka raced into the last-16 as she powered past Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic 6-3, 6-2 in just over an hour, playing her second match in as many days after lighting the Olympic cauldron on Friday.

“Honestly, I feel like I was a bit more nervous before the match,” said Osaka.