French Open: Iga Swiatek saves match point to beat Naomi Osaka in 2nd-round thriller

Former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka produced one of her finest performances on the red dirt.

But it was not enough to beat defending champion Iga Swiatek in the second round of Roland Garros 2024. Osaka was at her fiery best, playing lights-out tennis but she fluffed a match point and allowed Swiatek to recover from a 2-5 deficit in the final round. Swiatek kept her winning run in the French Open going, taking the second-round match 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5 in 2 hours and 57 minutes.

Noami Osaka was close to producing the biggest upset of the ongoing tournament, but Iga Swiatek was resolute, winning the last 5 games on the trot to wriggle out of trouble and reach the third round of the women’s singles competition.

“For sure this match was really intense. Much more intense for a 2nd round than I ever expected. Naomi played amazing tennis with loose hands. Sometimes risking a lot but playing in. She played really great tennis, I am happy she back and playing great tennis again,” Swiatek said, heaping praise on Osaka, who has still not managed to go past the third round at Roland Garros.

Naomi Osaka was at her absolute best, falling just short of her second successive win in a Grand Slam match since returning from her maternity break. Osaka lost in the first round of the Australian Open, but she has been on a resurgent run in Paris, beating World No. 67 Lucia Bronzetti in three sets in the first round. Even in the first-round win, Osaka did not look like she had it in her to stop Swiatek’s love affair with the clay courts of Roland Garros.

3-time champion Swiatek did not throw in the towel despite nearly getting bageled in the second set and going down 2-5 in the third set. The World No. 1 and a 3-time champion saved a match point while trailing 3-5 before mounting an incredible comeback and avoid a final set tie-breaker.

Osaka showed signs of returning to her vintage self, moving freely across the court and hitting those forehand and backhand winners at will. Osaka’s down-the-line backhand winners had Swiatek in trouble as the World No. 1 had very few answers to the Japanese star’s groundstrokes at the Philippe-Chatrier for most of the last two sets.

It was Iga Swiatek’s character and grit that helped her sail through the third set against Osaka, who was firing on all cylinders.

Naomi Osaka and Iga Swiatek started the opening set, matching each other’s energy and skill on clay. Osaka served for the first set when she was leading 4-5 on Swiatek’s serve. However, the Polish superstar found a way to wriggle out of trouble and drag the four-time Grand Slam champion to a tie-breaker. Swiatek raised her game in the tie-breaker, winning it 7-1.

However, Osaka did wonderfully well to not let the heartbreak of the first-set tie-breaker affect her. Osaka, in fact, increased her level as he backhand-down-the-line winners were coming out, one after the other as she took a 4-0 lead. Swiatek, who is used to bageling her opponents, was in danger of losing the second set 6-0, but she managed to take a game.

It required incredible resolve and determination for Swiatek to bounce back from 2-5 down in the second set. However, the Polish superstar extended her winning run in French Open to 16 matches, producing one of her greatest comebacks in a Grand Slam match.