Swiatek saves one match point, outlasts Osaka in Roland-Garros second-round thriller
Iga Swiatek outlasted Naomi Osaka in three tight sets on Wednesday at Roland-Garros. The top seed secured her spot in the third round after almost three hours of play.
Michael Baucher / Panoramic
Iga Swiatek was on the ropes at Roland-Garros on Wednesday evening. In fact, the world No 1 was one point away from bowing out of the tournament in the second round.
Instead, Swiatek battled back from a 5-2 deficit in the third set to defeat Naomi Osaka 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5, saving a match point in the process. The 22-year-old survived after two hours and 57 minutes of enthralling tennis under the closed roof of Court Philippe-Chatrier.
After Swiatek and Osaka split two very different sets — the first in a tiebreak and the second a breadstick in Osaka’s favor — the stage was set for a dramatic decider.
Osaka, who is on the comeback trail in 2024 following the birth of her first child, broke right away in the third set en route to a 3-0 advantage. The four-time Grand Slam champion eventually had a break point for a 5-1. Although she failed to convert that chance, Osaka still managed to go ahead 5-2. The world No 145 led 0-30 on Swiatek’s serve in that game but lost the next four points. Osaka also had a match point on her own serve at 5-3, Ad-in, only to see that chance go by the wayside.
After making that great escape, Swiatek was off to the races. The Pole broke serve for 4-5 and from there it was all but over for Osaka. Swiatek held a deuce game for 5-5, won a multi-deuce game to break the Japanese challenger for 6-5 and then held easily in the final game to clinch victory.
That was much more intense for a second-round match than I expected.
Iga Swiatek
“That was much more intense for a second-round match than I expected,” the victor said during her on-court interview. “She played really, really great tennis. For sure, I’m happy that she’s back.
“Nowadays in the women’s draw you can play Grand Slam champions early in the tournament. It is pretty tricky because you know these players are really experienced. They also achieved many great things. So they have bigger kind of belief.”
Osaka, mostly upbeat following the loss, certainly believes that her comeback from the birth of her first child is on the right track.
“I thought it was a really fun match,” she said. “Probably the most fun match that I have played so far (this season). It just felt really incredible, the atmosphere, and how fun I guess everyone in the crowd was having too. Yeah, it was definitely very memorable for me….
“I would just say I’m proud of the journey. I’m hoping, hopefully it will get more and more positive.”
As for Swiatek, the journey of Paris’ No 1 seed to potentially a fourth title at this event will next feature a third-round match against either Marie Bouzkova or Jana Fett.
