Garbine Muguruza, one of the favourites for singles gold following the exodus of top seeds at the Olympic Tennis Event in Tokyo, is doing her level best to avoid distraction.

The former world No. 1 safely negotiated Alison Van Uytvanck in straight sets on Tuesday to avoid the fate of Rio 2016 bronze medallist Petra Kvitova, who was brushed aside by the Belgian on Monday.

Muguruza, a past champion at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon, has her own way of keeping her eye on the prizes on offer in Tokyo.

“Don’t tell me anything about the draw please!” she interjected at the mere mention of falling seeds after her singles triumph.

For the record, Naomi Osaka, Barbora Krejcikova and Karolina Pliskova all fell on Tuesday, leaving No. 4 seed Elena Svitolina and Muguruza as the highest-ranked players left in the women’s singles draw.

If Muguruza did manage to avoid the big storylines emanating from the Ariake Tennis Park after her singles victory on Tuesday, it surely can't have been for long.

Cutting out the noise, focussing on the match in hand and avoiding being weighed down by the occasion aren’t simple things to do at the best of times – least of all at an Olympic Games.

“You know, it’s not easy,” admitted Muguruza. “You have to play singles and doubles, plus there’s the Olympic spirit, which is very nice and exciting, but it also takes a lot of energy.

“You’ve got to economise and be focused in my game, but so far I feel very happy to be here.”

That happiness turned to despair late on Tuesday evening, when she and partner Carla Suarez Navarro fell to Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic in the second round of the women’s doubles.

The pair were visibly emotional afterwards, with Muguruza particularly distraught for Suarez Navarro, with whom she had dreamed of a golden end to the 32-year-old’s farewell season following her recovery from early-stage Hodgkin lymphoma.

Her sole focus will now be the singles – with a quarter-final clash against Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina, who conquered Donna Vekic, up next. And you sense that she’ll be doubly motivated now.

“I’m going to give it my all. I’m going to fight for a medal,” said Muguruza. “I don’t know what it feels like and I can’t wait to be in those situations. I have to play a few more matches to be there, but I’m excited.”