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Naomi Osaka beats Zheng Saisai in Tokyo Olympics debut – Sportsnet.ca

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TOKYO (AP) — Naomi Osaka is back playing, still winning, and also talking to the media again.

The Japanese superstar who lit the Olympic cauldron defeated 52nd-ranked Zheng Saisai of China 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday in her first match in nearly two months.

Osaka hadn’t played since she withdrew from the French Open in May to take a mental health break, revealing that she has dealt with depression. She then sat out Wimbledon.

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Osaka stopped to talk with reporters afterward, having said in Paris that she experiences “huge waves of anxiety” before meeting with the media and that she would be skipping news conferences.

“More than anything else I’m just focused on playing tennis,” Osaka said. “The Olympics has been a dream of mine since I was a kid so I feel like the break that I took was very needed. I feel definitely a little bit refreshed and I’m happy again.”

She added that she was “happy” that reporters were asking her questions, then added: “I feel a little bit out of my body right now.”

“There’s nothing wrong with my body, I just felt really nervous,” Osaka said. “I haven’t played since France so there were definitely some things that I did a bit wrong but I think I can improve in the matches that I continue playing.”

The second-ranked Osaka was sharp from the start, serving an ace down the T on the opening point of the match and and racing out to a 5-0 lead.

Wearing a bright red dress and a red visor and with her hair styled in red-and-white braids to match the colors of the Japanese flag stitched onto the left side of her chest, Osaka served six aces in all and produced 25 winners to Zheng’s 10.

Osaka’s match was originally scheduled to open the tournament on Saturday but then was pushed back a day before her starring role in Friday’s opening ceremony.

“I feel very very proud,” Osaka said, revealing that Olympic organizers asked her to handle the cauldron honors back in March.

“When I lit the flame I was super honored,” she added. “I think that’s a position that you dream about and not anyone can do it so for me when they asked me if I wanted to I was very surprised but very honored and I’m just very happy to be here and very happy to play — especially in Tokyo.”

Osaka will next face 50th-ranked Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland.

For other top players in the tennis tournament at the Tokyo Games, it wasn’t so straightforward.

Top-ranked Ash Barty was upset by 48th-ranked Spanish opponent Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4, 6-3 and two-time defending gold medalist Andy Murray withdrew from singles because of a right quad strain.

Both still remain in the doubles competition.

Barty won with Australian partner Storm Sanders on Saturday while Murray and British partner Joe Salisbury beat the second-seeded French team of Pierre-Hughes Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.

Barty’s singles defeat came 15 days after she won Wimbledon for her second Grand Slam title.

She struggled with a whopping 55 unforced errors to Sorribes Tormo’s 13 and got in only 54% of her first serves compared to her opponent’s 83%.

Murray pulled out shortly ahead of his scheduled opener against ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada on Center Court.

“I am really disappointed at having to withdraw but the medical staff have advised me against playing in both events, so I have made the difficult decision to withdraw from the singles and focus on playing doubles with Joe,” Murray said.

It’s the latest setback for the 34-year-old Murray after only recently returning to the tour from a three-month absence because of a groin problem. He has also had serious issues with a bad hip that wound up requiring two operations.

Murray has a total of three Olympic medals. He also won a silver in mixed doubles at the 2012 London Games with Laura Robson.

Max Purcell of Australia was to play Auger-Aliassime instead.

Heat and humidity were issues again with the temperature rising to 91 degrees F (33 degrees C) and the sun baking the hard courts at Ariake Tennis Park.

Also advancing was Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic, who beat Alize Cornet of France 6-1, 6-3, while third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus eliminated Magda Linette of Poland 6-2, 6-1.

Carla Suarez Navarro, the Spaniard who plans to retire this year, beat Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 6-4, 6-1 for her first victory since recovering from Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.

Camila Giorgi of Italy eliminated Jennifer Brady, the American who was this year’s Australian Open finalist, 6-3, 6-2.

Among the men advancing were fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany, seventh-seeded Hubert Hurkacz of Poland and 12th-seeded Karen Khachanov of ROC.

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Lululemon unveils what Canada’s athletes will wear at Paris Olympics

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Canadian athletes are going to be in some pretty sleek outfits when they head to France for the Summer Olympics later this year.

At an event in downtown Toronto today, lululemon unveiled its kit for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

The official kit includes separate outfits for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies and outfits for going on the podium, while also featuring outfits for the athletes to wear during their media obligations throughout the Games.

Lululemon’s first go-around with the Canadian Olympic team was the 2022 Beijing Olympics, but this will be their first run at a Summer Games.

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A look at all the outfits / via Lululemon

The same outfits will also be worn for the Paralympic Games taking place following the Olympics.

The outfits will be made available for purchase this week online and in lululemon stores across the country.

Olympics Opening Ceremony Outfit/ via lululemon

Olympics Opening Ceremony Outfit/ via lululemon

Media outfit/ via lululemon

Podium outfit/ via lululemon

Future Legacy outfit/via Lululemon

Olympics closing ceremony outfit/via Lululemon

Back in 2021, the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees announced a partnership with lululemon, making it the country’s official outfitter of Team Canada from 2022 to 2028. The deal spans four Olympic Games, and will also be in place for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan, Italy, and the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, California.

Fifteen Canadian athletes were on hand to model the new looks, including a tennis star in 2021 US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez and Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Kelsey Mitchell, who competes in track cycling.

The lululemon deal replaced the Hudson’s Bay partnership that first began in Torino 2006 and expired after Tokyo 2020.

Canada is looking to build off a strong performance from Tokyo 2020, where they picked up 24 medals, by way of seven gold medals, seven silver medals, and 10 bronze medals, while also picking up 21 Paralympic medals (five gold, 10 silver, six bronze). The Olympics are officially just 101 days from starting, with the Opening Ceremonies set for July 26, and the closing ceremonies set for August 11. Meanwhile, the Paralympics will run from August 28 through September 8.

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Raymond’s heroics keep Red Wings alive in wild-card scramble for 1 more day – NHL.com

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And so, now it comes down to this: the regular-season finale against the Canadiens at Bell Centre in Montreal on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; RDS, TSN2, BSDET).

The Red Wings and Washington Capitals are tied for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference with 89 points, but the Capitals own the tiebreaker (31-27 in regulation wins). The Pittsburgh Penguins have 88 points and 32 regulation wins. The Philadelphia Flyers have 87 points and 30 regulation wins.

Washington and Philadelphia play each other Tuesday in the regular-season finale for each team. The Penguins play the New York Islanders on Wednesday in their regular-season finale.

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Bottom line: Detroit needs a point, ideally two points, and some help.

“Going into the season, no one had us in the playoffs,” coach Derek Lalonde said. “Most [people] had us picked seventh in the [Atlantic Division]. If you would have told us, ‘You have one game, Game 82 on the road, to improve 11 points over your previous season, to have a chance to make the playoffs,’ every single one of us would have signed up for it. It’s here now.”

That’s true. Going into the season, no one picked the Red Wings to make the playoffs. They had 80 points last season, seventh in the division.

But then they signed forward Patrick Kane as an unrestricted free agent Nov. 28. He looked better than anyone expected after hip surgery.

Detroit went on a 16-4-2 run from Jan. 2-Feb. 27, building an eight-point cushion in the playoff race and raising expectations.

After the Red Wings lost seven straight games in regulation from Feb. 29-March 14, they suddenly found themselves out of the playoff picture. They’ve been in a tight, multi-team competition ever since, sometimes above the cut line, sometimes below it, depending on the day.

They’ve kept fighting.

At Pittsburgh on Thursday, they were down 1-0 and 2-1 in the first period; 3-2 and 4-2 in the second; and 5-3 in the third. But Raymond completed a hat trick to tie it, and they ended up with a point in a 6-5 overtime loss.

At the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, they took a penalty late in regulation with the game tied 4-4, knowing if they didn’t get a point they’d be eliminated. They killed the penalty, and they got two points when captain Dylan Larkin scored in OT to give them a 5-4 win.

Against the Canadiens on Monday, they were down 2-0 in the first period and 4-1 in the second. They were down 4-2 entering the third. But they got their 12th third-period comeback win of the season, second in the NHL behind the New York Rangers (14).

“I give the guys a ton of credit to hang in there and then to find a way,” Lalonde said. “We’ve done it all year.”

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RECAP: Red Wings' 5-4 comeback OT victory against Canadiens the result of belief, resiliency | Detroit Red Wings – NHL.com

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QUOTABLE

Lalonde on Monday’s victory

“I can’t speak enough on the guys. I know this is the 13th game in which we were trailing in the third and we got two full points. Not took points, not lost in overtime. We actually won the game. We actually talked about it after the second (period), you have these little things throughout the year, when it happens, we’ll tap back into that.”

Lalonde on the Canadiens taking an early lead

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“They scored on both of their chances in the second (period). Again, it’s frustrating. Not a great game, not a clean game. Credit to them, but we’re going to get out of that period two chances against and they both go in. Five chances over two periods, four go in. We just gave them too much easy offense around the scoring area. Not a lot, but just enough.”

Raymond on his game-winner

“Just saw Larks up ice, thought he was going for a breakaway first but he was probably pretty tired. Then just tried to jump up. I was pretty tired too and then just tried to get off a shot. Happy it went in.”

Raymond on being part of a postseason chase

“It’s been a lot of emotions up and down, but it’s been fun. I think all of us have enjoyed it. I think we’ve stuck with it and have been able to pull through with some really big points here down the stretch. I think if you look at our locker room, we have so many competitive guys who enjoy these types of games. Obviously would have liked it to be a little more steady, but it is what it is and we’ll take it from there. It shows a lot about our team, the way we’re able to come back in these games and come through in the end.”

Raymond on the crowd at Little Caesars Arena on Monday night

“This building has been amazing ever since I’ve been here. Tonight it helped us for sure, when you get momentum like that and the crowd feeds into it you get energy from that. Always feels really good whenever we’re able to give back to them. Just happy we were able to get a win for all the guys and girls here.”

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