The defending champion just about avoids an early exit – but not against just anyone. Iga Swiatek has to fight hard against Naomi Osaka and also fend off a match point against her.
Tournament favorite Iga Swiatek fought hard to avoid an early exit from the French Open in a second-round thriller against Japan’s tennis star Naomi Osaka. The 22-year-old Pole won a dramatic and at times high-class match 7:6 (7:1), 1:6, 7:5. The defending champion fought back from a 2:5 deficit in the third set and also fended off a match point against herself.
Osaka (26), who was in the second round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time since returning from maternity leave, was at least on par with Swiatek. But after almost three hours, she ended the match on Court Philippe Chatrier with a backhand error.
The duel between the two four-time Grand Slam tournament winners lived up to what tennis fans had expected from the match. Osaka, currently only number 134 in the world, took the initiative after narrowly losing the first set and put Swiatek under pressure with her powerful and precise shots. The Pole almost completely lost her rhythm at times, but in the end she showed stronger nerves than her opponent.
After her triumphs at the Masters 1000 tournaments on clay in Madrid and Rome, Swiatek is the absolute favorite for the title. She has already won the tournament at Stade Roland Garros in 2020, 2022 and 2023.
Source: Stern
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