Naomi Osaka receives brutal Paris Olympics draw: Here is her possible path to title

07/25/2024 10:15 AM

Naomi Osaka has received a brutal draw at the Paris Olympics as the former world No. 1 is set to take on retiring Angelique Kerber in her opener before potentially meeting world No. 4 Elena Rybakina in her next match. 

Just before the release of the Paris Olympics main draw, three-time Grand Slam champion Kerber announced she would be putting an end to her great career after the event. 

Shortly after the announcement, the Olympics draw decided that there would be a first-round matchup between four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka and former world No. 1 Kerber. Against Kerber, Osaka has two wins and four losses but she won their last meeting at the 2022 Miami Open. 

If Osaka successfully makes it past Kerber, she would then very likely take on 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina. 

Even if Osaka was about to get past her opening two rounds, it probably wouldn't get any easier in the rest of the tournament since the likes of Karolina Muchova, Zheng Qinwen, Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.

🇯🇵 Naomi Osaka’s projected Paris Olympics draw: R1 - Kerber R2 - Rybakina R3 - Muchova QF - Qinwen/Navarro/Garcia SF - Swiatek/Collins/Ostapenko F - Gauff/Paolini/Pegula pic.twitter.com/jvNIwdYyog

— Lucas (@FlopMerchant) July 25, 2024

Now that the Paris Olympics will be Kerber's last tournament, it is safe to say that there will be a lot of attention on the match. Also, it will be a highly emotional match on Kerber's side and the 36-year-old German will certainly enter the clash very motivated to go out with a bang. 

But even though Kerber has a positive 4-2 head-to-head versus Osaka, it should be noted that the three-time Grand Slam champion is currently on a five-match losing streak. 

On the other side, Osaka has shown some promising signs in her game over the last couple of months and it is fair to say that the Japanese will enter their match as the favorite. 

But since there will be a lot of attention on the match, Osaka will also have to focus on not allowing to get distracted on the court.