PARIS (AP) — Each Swiatek played as the current No. 1 and two-time defending champion at Roland Garros. No surprise there. That Naomi Osaka looking like the former No. 1 that she is – and on clay, no less – amounted to an announcement that she is still very capable of playing elite tennis.
Sprinting throughout the sequence as Osaka faded, Swiatek saved a match point and seized the final five games to cruise to a 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5 in the second round. the French Open Wednesday evening in a thrill-ride contest worthy of two women who both have four Grand Slam titles.
“For sure, this match was really intense. Much more intense for the second round than I expected. Of course, I will be more ready next time,” Swiatek said. “Naomi played incredible tennis. … I’m happy she’s back and playing well.
For Swiatek, it extended her Roland Garros winning streak to 16 matches as she targets a third straight 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 hitting best.
They traveled back and forth for nearly three hours as rain fell loudly on the exterior of the closed roof of the Philippe Chatrier court – downpours forced the postponement of 23 singles matches until Thursday – and as a riveted crowd, although barely full, alternated its support between the two players. Sometimes spectators would shout before a point was scored, prompting a reprimand from chair umpire Aurélie Tourte during the match. And then from Swiatek.
“Sometimes, under a lot of pressure, when you shout something during the rally or just before the return, it’s really, really hard to be focused,” Swiatek said. “The stakes are high and there is a lot of money to be made. So losing a few points can change a lot of things. So please, guys, if you could support us between rallies but not during, that would be really, really amazing.
Osaka served for the win at 5-3 in the final set and was one point away from victory, but she put a backhand into the net. Soon, when Osaka missed another backhand, this one long, Swiatek finally converted a break point on her 10th chance in this set, and they continued to play.
Perhaps the lack of high-profile matches caught up with Osaka, as her errors continued to pile up, including a double fault that put Swiatek in control 6-5. Swiatek, who has led the WTA rankings almost every week since April 2022, then held serve one last time.
“I don’t necessarily feel like I regret anything,” Osaka said.
Still, it was arguably Osaka’s best performance since returning to the tour in January after 15 months away while becoming a mother. (Her daughter, now 10 months old, accompanied Osaka to Paris and recently started walking.)
“I was watching Iga win this tournament last year and I was pregnant. It was just my dream to be able to play her,” Osaka said. “When I think about it like that, I think I’m doing pretty well. And I also try not to be too hard on myself- even. I feel like I played her on her best surface. I’m a hard court kid, so I would love to play her on my surface and see what happens.
Due to the weather, only nine matches were completed on Wednesday and the winners were Coco Gauff, Ons Jabeur, Sofia Kenin, Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev.
It’s been a few years since Osaka played this with skill and confidence, hitting big serves up to 122 mph (197 km/h) and towering groundstrokes. Her quick-hitting abilities were on full display: Osaka won 82 of 139 points (59%) that lasted four strokes or less, and she finished with a 54-37 advantage in winners’ totals.
All those familiar mannerisms were back, too. She turned her back on Swiatek to move from one point to the other, jumped up, pulled the edge of her pink visor and placed her palm on his thigh. Osaka celebrated the points by clenching her fist and shouting “Come on!”
She won nine of ten games to dominate the second set and lead 3-0 in the third. Then 4-1. Then 5-2.
As one ball or another flew past Swiatek, slipped near a corner or just at a line, she turned toward her guest box and cast a confused or worried look in the direction of her coach and his sports psychologist.
“I felt for most of the match that I wasn’t really (in) the here and now,” Swiatek said. “My mind was playing sometimes. »
She’s not used to this kind of one-way traffic coming head-on in her direction. Normally, it’s Swiatek who delivers lopsided sets at the enemy’s expense, especially on clay. She has now won her last 14 matches this month, with surface titles in Madrid and Rome – a double on clay that no woman has achieved since Serena Williams in 2013.
But it marked a sudden return to Osaka, one that everyone expected, match after match, to the days when she was at the height of her powers, climbing to the top of the rankings and collecting two trophies each at the US Open and at the Australian Open from late 2018 until early 2021.
It was in May 2021 that Osaka withdrew from the French Open before her second round match, explaining that she was feeling “huge waves of anxiety” before speaking to the media and revealing that she suffered from depression. She took time off during the tour for a mental health break, then I opted for another break after his title defense at the US Open a few months later ended in a third round defeat.
She contributed to a shift in the way athletes, sports fans and society as a whole understood the importance of mental health – and inspired those responsible for various sports, including tennis, to take the issue seriously. serious and try to welcome them better and protect them better.
Osaka entered with an 0-4 record in red against opponents ranked in the top 10 and never made it past the third round at Roland Garros. It would also have been his first victory against a top 10 opponent since January 2020.
Instead, it’s Swiatek moving on and continuing her bid to become the first woman to win three championships in a row in Paris since Justine Henin in 2007-09.
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AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis