Tokyo Olympics 2021: Sania, Ankita to clash with Ukrainian duo in first round, Nagal to face tricky draw

The Indian tennis star duo of Sania Mirza and Ankita Raina will clash with the Ukrainian pair of Lyudmyla Kichenok and Nadiia Kichenok in the first round at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

As revealed in the Olympic Tennis Event draws released on the eve of the Olympic Games, India's Sumit Nagal will clash with Uzbekistan's Denis Istomin in the first round. Nagal will have a tricky draw ahead of him if he managed to overcome the challenge of Uzbek in the opener.

For Serbian superstar, Novak Djokovic, his quest for Olympic glory for his nation at Tokyo 2020 will begin with a first-round showdown against Bolivia's Hugo Dellien, while home hope Naomi Osaka will launch her bid for Japan's first gold medal in tennis against Zheng Saisai of China, as revealed in the Olympic Tennis Event draws released on the eve of the Olympic Games.

The first-round ties were revealed precisely 48 hours before players will take to the court for the opening action at Ariake Tennis Park, which begins at 11:00 local time on Saturday, July 24.

Hot on the heels of her Wimbledon triumph, women's singles top seed Ashleigh Barty will make her Olympic debut for Australia against Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo. Daniil Medvedev, the No. 2 seed in the men's singles draw, is up against Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik in the first round.

Great Britain's reigning men's singles Olympic champion Andy Murray will begin his bid for an unprecedented third consecutive Olympic title in the same tennis event against Canadian Felix Auger Aliassime, while Petra Kvitova, who claimed women's singles bronze for the Czech Republic at Rio 2016, takes on Jasmine Paolini of Italy.

In the doubles draws, Croatian men's top seeds Mate Pavic and Nikola Mektic will open against Brazil's Marcelo Melo and Marcelo Demoliner, while Czech women's top seeds Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova take on Hsieh Yu-Chieh and Hsu Chieh-Yu of Chinese Taipei.

(ANI)

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