Japan's four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and former men's No. 4 Kei Nishikori both lost at Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Osaka made her first appearance at the tournament since 2019 on Monday when she topped Diane Parry of France in three sets, but the former world No. 1 came unstuck on Centre Court against Emma Navarro of the United States in the second round, going down 6-4, 6-1.
The 26-year-old Osaka, who returned from a maternity break in January, gave 17th-ranked Navarro the only break of the first set when she failed to win a point in the seventh game.
Navarro jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second set and clinched it with her fourth break of the match as Osaka struggled with unforced errors.
In the men's singles draw, Nishikori resumed his first-round match against 76th-ranked Arthur Rinderknech of France which was suspended at 7-5, 4-6, 1-1 due to the late-night curfew and went on to win the third set 7-6(2).
But Nishikori, currently 401st in the world, lost the next two sets 6-3, 6-2 to end his first appearance on the Wimbledon grass in three years.
"I wasn't bad, but my opponent was attacking and had more concentration toward the end," said the injury-plagued 34-year-old after facing Rinderknech, who notched 33 aces to his five.
Nishikori's return on Tuesday was his first on-court action since he retired from a French Open second-round match in late May and that was his first Grand Slam appearance since the 2021 U.S. Open.
He, like Osaka, will represent Japan at the upcoming Paris Olympics which will be played on the clay of Roland Garros.
"My form was better than I expected," Nishikori said. "I was made to realize once again how difficult it is to play on grass...I'll look to prepare to put in a good performance at the Olympics."
