Iga Swiatek saved a match point ultimately and prevailed 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5 against Naomi Osaka in a three hours action on Wednesday night.
Only five months into her comeback following the birth of daughter Skai, Osaka pushed Swiatek to the absolute limit.
In a tense and thrilling match that had the look and feel of a championship final, Osaka was — as hard as it was to believe — suddenly vintage Osaka. Ranked No.134 in the world, she played like it was 2019.
This was Swiatek’s 16th consecutive match-win at Roland Garros, the most since Justine Henin won 24 straight between 2005-10. This was also Swiatek’s 14th straight win this year.
Osaka actually won more points, had 17 more winners and more service breaks — but Swiatek was better when it mattered. Match time: 2 hours, 57 minutes.
“That was much more intense for a second-round match than I expected,” Swiatek said in her on-court interview. “She played really, really great tennis. For sure, I’m happy that she’s back.”
Coming in, Swiatek was understandably deferential to Osaka.
“Nowadays in women’s draw you can play Grand Slam champions early in the tournament,” Swiatek said. “It is pretty tricky because you know these players are really experienced. They also achieved many great things. So they have bigger kind of belief.”
Swiatek is tracking like Henin, which is a (very) good thing. Henin, who may have had the most breathtaking one-handed backhand in women’s tennis history, won three straight titles here from 2005-07 and four out of five.
With five more victories here, Swiatek can equal that feat. The only other player in the Open Era to three-peat was Monica Seles, in 1990-92, twice beating Steffi Graf in the final.
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