Naomi Osaka vs Zheng Saisai is one of the first matches in the women’s tennis Olympics 2020 schedule and here is the live stream, preview, prediction and more
The Olympics 2020 in Tokyo is the host for the tennis event over the next two weeks. The draw for the men’s and women’s singles and doubles have been confirmed. In the men’s Novak Djokovic is looking to seal a Golden Slam with a first ever Gold for the Serbian team.
In the women’s singles, hometown favourite Naomi Osaka is back after missing the French Open and Wimbledon this year, citing mental health issues. She will now look to win the first Gold in her career and help boost the host nation’s tally.
Osaka faces 52nd ranked Zheng Saisai on Saturday. Saisai has a career-best ranking of 34, but has dipped over the last couple of seasons. Zheng is going to play both singles and doubles at Tokyo 2020 for China.
Osaka has met her Chinese counterpart on three occasions in her career. She has notched up two consecutive wins at the 2020 Australian Open and 2016 Madrid Masters. However, the Chinese began the better player winning the 75k Gifu, Wk. 18 final in 2015 in three sets.
The match will be played at Ariake Tennis Park Centre Court, Tokyo and will be viewed by many in Japan. Osaka is also a 2021 Australian Open winner and will look to use that form on her favourite surface.
The match is going to be broadcasted throughout the world on different platforms. Olympics is widely regarded as one of the biggest events of the year, after last year’s cancellations. Here are few of the streaming options for those in the USA, UK and India.
NBC is set to cover the event in the United States. The channel hosts upto six stations — NBC USA, NBCSN, CNBC, Olympic Channel and Golf Channel and Peacock. India will be streaming the Olympics on Sony Ten channels in both SD and HD, apart from the app.
USA – NBC & Peacock TV
UK – BBC TV
India – Sony Liv
The temperatures in Japan have risen over the last few days. It is expected to stay sunny at 33 degree celsius. The humidity in Tokyo has been building up and is at 67%. A clear sky and sunny day is expected all around the Tokyo Olympics for the next week or so and will not hamper any proceedings.
The curtailed event is set to be played behind closed doors for most events, which will be a disappointing news for the fans.
Osaka has been out of match practice for the most of two months and will look to begin afresh. She is seen as one of the favourites alongside Wimbledon Champion Ashleigh Barty. The Japanese has had a stellar season on the hard-court and the move to her hometown will bring out the best in her game.
Saisai, meanwhile, will be aware of the dangers of Osaka’s game, but will need to stay longer in points. The battle between the two will be decided at the baseline, with the Japanese mastering the longer points.
It will be an interesting match for the fans, but it is expected that Osaka begins her 2020 Olympics campaign without a scratch.
Prediction: Osaka in straight sets
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