The first round of tennis of the 2024 Olympic Games begins on Saturday with a juicy women’s singles matchup. Angelique Kerber of Germany, the three-time grand slam champion, faces Naomi Osaka of Japan, the four-time grand slam champion, in an intriguing battle of mothers.
Kerber won the 2016 Australian Open and United States Open, and 2018 Wimbledon. Osaka won the 2018 and 2020 United States Open, and the 2019 and 2021 Australian Open.
Head-to-head Kerber has won four of six matches. Osaka won the first meeting in the first round of the 2017 United States Open, 6-3, 6-1. Kerber then won the first round of Tokyo in September of 2017, 6-3, 6-4. Kerber then won the first round of the China Open in Beijing later that same month, 6-2, 7-5. Kerber then beat Osaka 6-2, 6-4 in the third round of Wimbledon in 2018, and then in the round robin of the 2018 WTA Finals in Singapore, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Osaka then won the last match, 6-2, 6-3, in the second round of the 2022 Miami Open.
There are three more intriguing matches on the women’s side of the draw. In a battle of grand slam finalists, Sara Errani of Italy will face Qinwen Zhang of China. Errani reached the final of the 2012 French Open, and Zhang reached the final of he 2024 Australian Open. Zhang won their only meeting head-to-head. It came in the second round of the 2017 Miami Open, where Zhang won 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.
In another battle of grand slam finalists, Leylah Annie Fernandez of Canada, the 2021 United States Open finalist, will face Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, the 2023 French Open finalist. Like Errani and Zhang, their only prior meeting came in the second round of the Miami Open. Muchova won in 2022, 6-4, 7-6.
Finally, Mirra Andreeva of Individual Neutral Athletes, the 2024 French Open semifinalist, will face Magda Linette of Poland, the 2023 Australian Open semifinalist. Andreeva won their only prior meeting, 6-3, 6-3 in the third round of the 2023 Madrid Open.
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