Iga Swiatek saves a match point and comes back to beat Naomi Osaka at the French Open

PARIS (AP) — Iga Swiatek played as the current No. 1 and two-time defending champion at the French Open. No surprise there. That Naomi Osaka looked like the former No. 1 that she is – and on clay, no less – signaled that she is still quite capable of elite tennis.

As Osaka faded, Swiatek saved a match point and took the last five games to power his way to a 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5 victory in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday. evening in an exciting match that suits two women who both hold four Grand Slam titles.

“Definitely, this match was very intense. Much more intense for the second round than I ever expected. Next time I will definitely be better prepared,” said Swiatek. “Naomi played great tennis. … I’m glad she’s back and she’s playing well.”

For Swiatek, this extended her winning streak at Roland Garros to 16 matches as she pursues a third consecutive trophy at the clay-court major. For Osaka, who cried as she left the court after letting a 5-2 lead slip away in the final set, it amounted to a return to her all-time high.

They went back and forth for nearly three hours as rain pounded loudly against the outside of the closed roof of Court Philippe Chatrier — showers forced the postponement of 23 singles matches until Thursday — and a captivated, if barely full, crowd exchanged their support between the two players. At times, spectators shouted before a point was made, prompting an admonishment from chair umpire Aurélie Tourte during the match. And then from Swiatek.

“If you shout something under a lot of pressure during the rally or just before the return, it is sometimes very difficult to stay focused,” Swiatek said. “The stakes are high and there is a lot of money to be won here. Losing a few points can change a lot. So guys, if you can support us between the rallies, but not during the rallies, that would be really great.”

Osaka served at 5-3 in the final set for the win and was one point away from victory, but she put a backhand into the net. Soon, when Osaka missed another backhand, this long one, Swiatek finally converted a break point on her tenth chance of that set, and they played on.

Perhaps the lack of high-level matches caught up with Osaka, as her mistakes continued to pile up, including a double fault that put Swiatek in control at 6-5. Swiatek, who has topped the WTA rankings almost every week since April 2022, then held his serve one last time.

“I don’t necessarily feel like I have any regrets,” Osaka said.

Still, this was undoubtedly Osaka’s top performance since returning to the tour in January after a 15-month absence while she became a mother. (Her daughter, now 10 months old, accompanied Osaka to Paris and recently started walking.)

“Last year I watched Iga win this tournament, and I was pregnant. It was just my dream to be able to play against her,” Osaka said. “When I think about it that way, I think I’m doing pretty well. And I just try not to be too hard on myself. I feel like I played her on her better surface. I’m a hardcourt kid, so I’d like to play her on my surface and see what happens.

Due to the weather, only nine matches were completed on Wednesday and the winners included Coco Gauff, Ons Jabeur, Sofia Kenin, Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev.

It’s been a few years since Osaka played so skillfully and confidently, with big serves of up to 197 km per hour and imposing groundstrokes. Her quick-striking abilities were on full display: Osaka won 82 of 139 points (59%) that took four strokes or less, and she finished with a 54-37 lead in total winners.

All those familiar mannerisms were back too. Turning her back to Swiatek to reset between points, she jumped into place, pulled the edge of her pink visor and hit her thigh with her palm. Osaka celebrated the points by shaking a clenched fist and shouting “Come on!” to call.

She took nine of ten games to dominate the second set and led 3-0 in the third. Then 4-1. Then 5-2.

As one or the other ball flew past Swiatek, close to a corner or near a line, she turned to her guest box and cast a confused or concerned look in the direction of her coach and her sports psychologist.

“I felt like I wasn’t really in the here and now for most of the match,” Swiatek said. “My mind was playing sometimes.”

She is not used to this kind of one-way traffic coming her way head-on. Normally it is Swiatek who delivers lopsided sets at the enemy’s expense, especially on clay. She has now won her last 14 matches of the month, with on-court titles in Madrid and Rome – a clay-court doubles that no woman had done since Serena Williams in 2013.

But this marked a sudden return to the Osaka everyone expected, match-in and match-out, when she was at the height of her powers, climbing to the top of the rankings and collecting two trophies from the end of 2018 at the US Open and the Australian Open . until early 2021.

It was in May 2021 that Osaka withdrew from the French Open before her second round match, explaining that she is experiencing “huge waves of anxiety” before speaking to the media and revealing that she had been dealing with depression . She took some time off the tour for a mental health break, then opted for another break after her US Open title defense ended with a third-round loss a few months later.

She helped herald a change in the way athletes, sports fans and society as a whole understood the importance of mental health – and urged those responsible for various sports, including tennis, to take the issue seriously and try to better manage them to capture and protect.

Osaka came in with an 0-4 record on the red stuff against opponents ranked in the top 10 and never advanced beyond the third round at Roland Garros. This would also have been her first win anywhere against a top 10 opponent since January 2020.

Instead, however, it is Swiatek who moves on and continues her bid to become the first woman with three straight championships in Paris since Justine Henin in 2007-2009.