Iga Swiatek says adjusting to the tricky Tokyo conditions will be key to winning gold after she came through her Olympics opener on Saturday.
The Polish athlete was the highest-ranked seed in action in the women's singles in the Japanese capital and comfortably dispatched of Mona Barthel 6-2 6-2.
World number one Ash Barty gets her individual campaign underway on Sunday but the Wimbledon champion was a doubles victor on the first day of action on the tennis courts.
SWIATEK OUT TO ADJUST
Swiatek was on court for a little over an hour, breaking serve six times and firing down 13 winners to Barthel's eight.
The tough hot and humid conditions were a big talking point at Ariake Tennis Centre on Saturday, and Swiatek – whose father represented Poland as a rower at the 1988 Olympics – had her say.
"I'm pretty happy that I'm into the second round and for sure not only the temperature was hard, but also the sun because on one side it was pretty hard to serve," she said.
"But we had to adjust quickly and change our toss, so that was hard, but you know I would say the players who can adjust quicker are going to be the best ones here."
KREJCIKOVA BENEFITS FROM DIYAS RETIREMENT
Eighth seed Barbora Krejcikova was 5-2 up against Zarina Diyas before her opponent had to withdraw with an ankle problem.
The Czech now meets Leylah Annie Fernandez in the second round. Fellow seeds Belinda Bencic (9), Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (13), Maria Sakkari (14) and Elena Rybakina (15) all made it through round one.
But Kiki Bertens, the 16th seed, was sent packing 6-4 3-6 6-4 by Marketa Vondrousova.
BARTY REVELS IN TEAMING UP WITH CHILDHOOD FRIEND
Barty is fresh off her triumph at SW19 earlier this month, and the amiable Aussie started her Olympics adventure alongside long-time friend Storm Sanders.
The sixth feeds hammered home pair Nao Hibino and Makoto Ninomiya 6-1 6-2.
"Playing with my childhood friend in what is a dream for both of us is really cool. And to be here in some of the most unique circumstances I think ever for an Olympic Games, it's really awesome for us," Barty said.
"We're very grateful and thankful that we're able to be here to play and to experience what is really cool Games."
Nadal cruises past teen Blanch to tee up De Minaur rematch in Madrid
Darwin Blanch presented little challenge for Rafael Nadal, who dropped just one game in a convincing 6-1 6-0 triumph at the Madrid Open.
Nadal is feeling his way back to fitness, but 16-year-old qualifier Blanch offered little resistance to the 22-time major champion on Thursday.
Making his farewell appearance at the Madrid Open, where he has won five titles, Nadal needed just 64 minutes to progress to round two.
"I think today I played against an opponent with a great future in front [of him], but today, still making mistakes," said Nadal.
"I just tried to be there, be solid all the time without taking a lot of risks. It worked well. I'm happy to be through and I wish him all the very best for the future."
Nadal's reward is a rematch with Alex de Minaur, who he lost to last week in Barcelona.
Data Debrief
This game saw the largest age gap (21 years, 117 days) between two opponents in the history of ATP Masters 1000 events.
Nadal has now registered 57 wins at the Madrid Open, which is 20 clear of any other player.
Osaka eliminated by Samsonova in Madrid
Naomi Osaka was knocked out of the Madrid Open by Liudmila Samsonova after an entertaining second-round battle on Thursday.
Having won her first match on clay for two years against Greet Minnen a day earlier, Osaka was able to force a final set against 15th seed Samsonova but ultimately fell to defeat.
Samsonova won a close encounter 6-2 4-6 7-5 to book a clash with American Madison Keys – who defeated Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets – in the next round.
Osaka had beaten Samsonova at Indian Wells last month and came close to securing another victory as she recovered well from losing the opening set.
But the Japanese star was broken to fall 5-6 behind in the final set, and the Russian made no mistake in ruthlessly closing out the victory.
Data Debrief: Samsonova ends losing streak
This was a crucial win for Samsonova, who came into the match having lost four consecutive contests, including that Indian Wells defeat to Osaka on March 9.
Samsonova did apply plenty of pressure in the final set – forcing five break points compared to just one for Osaka – and was ultimately rewarded in the closing stages of a contest that lasted two hours and 22 minutes.
Azarenka makes history with 200th WTA 1000 win
Victoria Azarenka made light work of progressing into the round of 32 at the Madrid Open and she made history in the progress.
Azarenka, a two-time finalist in Madrid, despatched Tatjana Maria 6-3 6-1 on Thursday.
It brought up her 200th victory at WTA 1000 events, which makes her the first woman to hit that milestone since the format was introduced in 2009.
The former world number one needed just 81 minutes on court to get the job done, and will face Sara Sorribes Tormo in the next round.
Data Debrief
This was Azarenka's first meeting with Maria, and her service game was excellent, with the Belarusian winning 63.2 per cent of her first-serve points. She also saved five break points, having offered up seven, and converted six going the other way.
Azarenka, who has won 10 WTA 1000 events, is 14 clear of next-best Simona Halep (186) on the list of women with the most WTA 1000 match wins.
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