FIERCE MATCHUP Osaka Naomi of Japan (top) and Iga Swiatek of Poland during their matchup in women's singles second round at the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros, Paris, France, May 29, 2024. Xinhua
PARIS -- Defending champion Iga Swiatek saved a match point before overcoming Naomi Osaka on Wednesday, avoiding the earliest French Open exit of her career in a thrilling second-round match in Paris.
The grueling battle, dubbed "worthy of a final" by seven-time French Open winner Chris Evert, lasted almost three hours before the 22-year-old Pole fought back to win 7-6 (7-1), 1-6, 7-5.
With a series of powerful baseline strikes, Osaka came within a point of pulling off the tournament's biggest upset and securing her first win over a Top 10 player on clay. However, the top seed Swiatek showed resilience and consistency to advance to the next round.
"That was intense, more intense than I expected for a second-round match," said Swiatek. "We played some amazing tennis."
Former world No.1 Osaka only returned to the sport four months ago after having her daughter and has previously struggled on clay, while the current world No.1 Swiatek is a clay specialist, winning three of her four Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros.
Escaping defeat against Osaka - whose four major titles all came on hard courts - means Swiatek has now lost just two of her 32 matches at Roland Garros.
After splitting the first two sets, Osaka faced three break points in her opening service game but saved them all. She then broke Swiatek with a backhand crosscourt winner, which induced a primal scream. In her second service game, she saved five more break points before Swiatek's forehand return found the net.