Svitolina defeats Japan’s first racket Uchijima at 2024 Olympics

Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina started the 2024 Olympic Games with a victory over Japanese Moyuka Uchijima, the 66th racket in the world ranking.

Suspilne.Sport writes about this, Rubryka reports.

Svitolina, the reigning Olympic bronze medalist, played Uchijima head-to-head for the first time in the first round of singles. Svitolina closed the first game, which ended with a score of 6:2 in favor of the Ukrainian.

Subsequently, she closed the match after 62 minutes on the court with a score of 6:1.

So, in general, the game ended with a score of 2:0 and a victory for the Ukrainian athlete, who is now on her way to the 1/16 finals.

Parity was maintained between the tennis players in terms of actively won balls—11:11. Svitolina hit 55% of her first serves and finished the match with ten unforced errors.

Svitolina became the first Ukrainian tennis player to play in the 1/16 finals of the Olympics. She will be joined in the second round by Marta Kostiuk and Diana Yastremska, who will play with New Zealander Lulu Sun and Brazilian Laura Pigossi, respectively.

In the second round, Svitolina will play against the match-winner between American Jessica Pegula and Swiss Victoria Golubych.

Olympic Games-2024

We remind you that on July 26, the opening ceremony of the XXIII Summer Olympic Games was held in Paris, the capital of France, officially kicking off the biggest sports event in the world. This year, for the first time, the celebrations were held not at the stadium but on the water.

At the Summer Olympic Games opening ceremony in Paris, tennis player Elina Svitolina and swimmer Mykhailo Romanchuk carried the Ukrainian flag.

The 2024 Olympic Games will be held in Paris from July 26 to August 11. France is betting on its first Olympics in 100 years to showcase the country's best to the world.

Ukraine will be represented in Paris by the smallest number of athletes in its history: 140 Ukrainian athletes will participate in 25 sports.

Despite Ukraine's protest, the executive committee of the International Olympic Committee allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Olympic Games in Paris, but individually and under a neutral flag — there will be 25 such people who will compete in cycling, trampoline jumping, weightlifting, wrestling, and taekwondo. At the same time, they are prohibited from having their own teams or displaying state symbols.