The red clay at the French Open witnessed a high-octane fixture between the top seed Iga Świątek and Naomi Osaka on Wednesday (May 30) which had elements of an epic spectacle.
The game between the current world No. 1 (Iga) and the former world No. 1 was only their third career meeting and it saw Świątek take a 2-1 lead over the Japanese in their overall head-to-head record.
Osaka, just five months out of her maternity break, displayed glimpses of her old self and pushed the Polish tennis star to her limits from the beginning.
The encounter got off to a mouthwatering start after a delightful duel between the players pushed the first set into a tiebreak. However, Świątek dominated the tiebreak and played like a defending champion to avoid an early scare.
Unfazed by the early setback, the former world No. 1 came roaring back and stamped her authority on the game to take the third set 6-1.
The decider saw both players push each other to the brink and it required nerves of steel from Świątek to save a match point and win an all-time classic 7-6, 1-6, 7-5.
After securing her 16th consecutive win at the French Open, the defending champion admitted that she was taken aback by the "intense" tennis on display from the former world No. 1 in the second set.
"For sure this match was really intense," Swiatek told Roland Garros. Much more intense for the second round than I ever expected. Naomi played amazing tennis, with a really loose hand – maybe she’s gonna be a clay-court specialist in a while."
The defending champion also disclosed that she wasn't able to focus early on but regained her concentration as the game went deep.
"For sure I felt for most of the match that I wasn’t really here and now," Swiatek added later. "My mind was flying around sometimes, but when I was really under the biggest pressure I was able to actually focus more and play better, not thinking about what the score is and that I was really close to losing.
"I just kept going forward and I hope that my game is going to get better because of that."
