Naomi Osaka will leave the Tokyo 2020 Olympics without a medal after the four-time major champion lost to Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrosova in the third round on Tuesday.
2019 French Open finalist Vondrosova won 6-1, 6-4.
Osaka said, "How disappointed am I? I mean, I'm disappointed in every defeat, but I feel like it sucks more than the others."
Osaka - who made 32 unforced errors in the match - is not the first big name to lose early in the women's draw. World No. 1 and Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty of Australia lost in the first round to Spain's Sara Soribes Tormo. No. 3 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus also crashed out early in the second round after losing to Donna Vekic of Croatia.
But surely this resentment is much bigger than them. The face of these Olympics, and on her best surface, this is the first time Osaka has lost on hard court before the quarterfinals since the 2020 Australian Open, when she lost to American Coco Gauff in the third round. All seven of Osaka's career titles have come on hard courts.
Osaka, 23, lit the Olympic cauldron to officially start the Games. Born in Osaka, Japan, Osaka - who has a Haitian father and a Japanese mother - moved to the United States at the age of 3. He is number 2 in the world.
After the opening ceremony, Osaka said in a tweet: "Undoubtedly the greatest athletic achievement and honor I have ever achieved in my life."
Osaka said after the match, 'I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this. "I think it's probably because I haven't played in the Olympics before and for the first year [it] was a little high. I think I'm happy with the way I play, with that break I did Was."
The Olympics was Osaka's first tournament since she pulled out of the French Open two months ago, citing her mental health.
"I've taken a long break before and I've been able to do well," Osaka said. "I'm not saying I just did bad, but I know my expectations were high.
"I think my attitude wasn't that good because I really don't know how to deal with that pressure, so that's the best I could do in this situation."
The 22-year-old Vondrosova will next face Spain's Paula Badosa. He described his win against Osaka as one of the "biggest" of his career.
"Naomi is a great player, she has had so many Grand Slams, so I knew it was going to be a tough match," Vondrosova said. "But I'm very happy with my game. I played amazingly in the first set, and then the second set was really tough. I just got through it."
Osaka is listed to play at the US Open in New York starting in August. He is the defending champion.