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Naomi Osaka lighting the Olympic cauldron could have helped improve the publicity for the game of tennis world wide, in line with Novak Djokovic.
Osaka was given the honour of carrying the torch on the brief ultimate leg on the Japan Nationwide Stadium earlier than strolling the steps to mild the flame and finish the opening ceremony.
The four-time grand slam champion is the face of the Tokyo Video games in her dwelling nation, creating further stress on her shoulders as she bids to strike gold.
Djokovic appreciates the absences of legendary names Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal is a blow, however he believes Osaka’s presence is essential for tennis within the battle for media protection on the Video games.
“It can’t be higher for our sport, you’re representing your self, your nation but in addition your sport within the Olympic Video games, you are making an attempt to get the hype and the eye in the direction of our sport as a lot as you presumably can, so we’re all contributing to that within the Olympic Village,” Djokovic mentioned when requested about Osaka’s function in Friday’s ceremony.
“There’s quite a lot of consideration in the direction of the tennis gamers which is nice, from the opposite athletes which could be very good to see, very good to expertise.
“Clearly you do not have Roger or Rafa. They’re massive stars and legends of our sport, however nonetheless there’s numerous nice athletes, prime gamers. Naomi is a house favorite and quite a lot of eyes are on her.
“Being at dwelling taking part in is quite a lot of stress, nevertheless it’s nice for our sport simply on the whole to see that there is quite a lot of consideration in the direction of it.”
Djokovic was talking after overcoming Hugo Dellien with ease in his opening outing within the males’s singles event, the Serbian triumphing 6-2 6-2 in simply over an hour.
The short win allowed the not too long ago topped Wimbledon champion to keep away from staying out for too lengthy within the Tokyo warmth, a problem that led to Daniil Medvedev calling for matches to be pushed again to later within the day, permitting gamers to compete in the course of the evenings when the temperatures have dropped.
“I agree with him 100 per cent,” Djokovic mentioned of Medvedev’s suggestion. “I really requested as effectively.
“My staff captain, Viktor Troicki, was talking to the referee a few occasions. To be sincere, I do not perceive why they do not begin matches at say 3pm.
“I’ve heard for tennis there may be some sort of curfew they’ve to complete at midnight, but when that is the case, I’ve simply completed the final match and it is not even 5pm, we nonetheless have seven hours to play.
“They’ve lights on all of the courts, they are going to make life a lot simpler for all of us tennis gamers, I simply do not perceive why they do not transfer it.
“It is really for the tv broadcasters even higher, as a result of the later you play, the higher it’s for the USA and the time zones in Europe.
“I do not know, perhaps the ITF (Worldwide Tennis Federation) can provide you a greater reply to why they selected to be performed in the course of the day. I doubt they are going to change the choice, however we’re hoping that they are going to.”
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