Welcome to this week's edition of "Hot Shots," a USOpen.org-curated look at what you may have missed on social media over the past few days. This week's edition is all about the Opening Ceremony from the Tokyo Olympics as the tennis players in attendance kicked off the global sporting event, while Naomi Osaka made history.
The Tokyo Olympics are officially underway, and tennis players kicked off the celebration in style at Friday's Opening Ceremony—but it was Naomi Osaka who closed the show in historic fashion.
The four-time Grand Slam champion and home favorite had the honor of being selected as the final torch-bearer, and lit the Olympic cauldron to officially announce the beginning of the Games. Osaka is the first tennis player in the history of the Olympics to light the cauldron.
The No. 2 seed in the women's singles event, Osaka will play Zheng Saisai of China in her first-round match on Sunday.
In addition to Osaka's honor, four tennis players were the flag-bearers for their respective delegations: Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic), Jelena Ostapenko (Latvia), Lu Yen-Hsun (Chinese Taipei) and Veronica Cepede Royg (Paraguay).
Keep scrolling to see more players donning their national colors ahead of the start of the tennis event, which begins in Tokyo on Saturday.
Check back next week for more US Open Hot Shots.
