In the last event of her glittering career, 2016 Olympic silver medalist Angelique Kerber of Germany kept her singles flame burning with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Japan's Naomi Osaka in the first round of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

At the end of a rainy opening day of the XXXIII Olympiad's tennis event, Kerber triumphed in a marquee match between two players who have won multiple Grand Slam singles titles and been ranked World No.1 in the PIF WTA Singles Rankings.

On Court Philippe Chatrier at Roland Garros, three-time Grand Slam champion Kerber needed 68 minutes to beat four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka. Kerber will end her career with a hefty 5-2 head-to-head lead over Osaka.

Most of Saturday's matches were rained out, but this eye-catching match remained in the primetime slot under the closed roof of Court Chatrier. Not only have both players reached the top of the game, but Kerber and Osaka both returned to tour in 2024 after giving birth to daughters in 2023.

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The encounter took on even more significance when Kerber announced this week that she would retire from the sport following her Olympic campaign. Kerber is also entered in the women's doubles draw alongside Laura Siegemund.

Osaka slammed a forehand winner to take an early 3-1 lead in Saturday's match, but Kerber immediately broke back as she pulled herself into contention.

Heavy depth on returns helped Kerber break Osaka at love for 6-5, and the German found one of her signature backhand crosscourt angles to close out her second set point in the following game.

Kerber also showed off her typically exceptional defense, using her speed to draw out the only break of the second set for 4-3, en route to victory. Kerber was also stellar on serve in the second set, where she won 13 of 14 points when she got her first delivery into play.

In the singles draw, Kerber will next face Jaqueline Cristian of Romania, in their first meeting. Earlier on Saturday, Cristian ousted top-ranked Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia, the No.17 seed, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 on Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Top seeds Gauff and Pegula advance: In the evening match under the closed roof of Court Lenglen, No.1 seeds Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula of the United States defeated Australia's Ellen Perez and Daria Saville, 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of women's doubles.

Gauff and Pegula, who have both been ranked World No.1 in the PIF WTA Doubles Rankings and have won five WTA doubles titles together, needed just 1 hour and 13 minutes to prevail in their opening-round encounter with the Aussies.

The Americans went down an early break, with Perez (currently ranked No.10 in doubles) and Saville taking a quick 2-1 lead. However, Gauff and Pegula were untroubled the rest of the way, winning 11 of the next 13 games without losing serve in that stretch.

The top seeds converted five of their eight break points to book a spot in the second round. In their next match, Gauff and Pegula will face either Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova or Ekaterina Alexandrova and Elena Vesnina.