Osaka Completes Comeback in Paris
Naomi Osaka, winner of the last two Grand Slams, fought back from the brink of defeat in the French Open first round on Tuesday. The top-ranked woman in the world defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 0-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 to avoid the opening round upset.
“I think this is the most nervous I have ever been my entire life during a match,” said Osaka. “I think you could see that in the first set. I was literally not hitting any balls in the court. For me, today was weird because usually the nerves go away, but it kind of stayed the entire match. Then I just felt like it was a fight of willpower.”
Osaka committed 13 unforced errors in a disastrous first set that saw her win no games. And while she found her form in the second set, Schmiedlova had a chance to serve for the match twice, both at 5-4 and at 6-5.
But Osaka mustered up two breaks of serve in both of those games to force a second-set tiebreaker, which she would win.
With momentum on her side, Osaka played a dominant third set as she hit 11 winners and just four unforced errors.
She meets Victoria Azarenka in the second round. The Belarusian beat former French champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-6(4) in her match on Tuesday.
The defending champion, Simona Halep, outlasted Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to book her spot in the second round, and into a matchup with Poland’s Magda Linette.
Earlier in the day, young American Amanda Anisimova powered her way through the first round with a 6-3, 6-1 win over French wild card Harmony Yan. Anisimova takes on 11th seed Aryna Sabalenka next in an intriguing second round matchup. Sabalenka defeated Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 6-1.
On the men’s side, American Taylor Fritz notched a straight-sets win over Bernard Tomic, while eighth-seed Juan Martin del Potro and ninth-seed Fabio Fognini both also advanced.
