Former World No. 1 Naomi Osaka produced one of her finest performances on the red dirt, but it was not enough to beat defending champion Iga Swiatek in the second round of Roland Garros 2024. Osaka was at her fiery best, playing lights-out tennis but she fluffed a match point and allowed Swiatek to recover from a 2-5 deficit in the final round. Swiatek kept her winning run in French Open going, winning the second-round match 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5 in 2 hours and 57 minutes.

Naomi Osaka was at her absolute best, falling just short of her second successive win in a Grand Slam match since returning from her maternity break. Osaka lost in the first round of the Australian Open, but she has been on a resurgent run in Paris, beating World No. 67 Lucia Bronzetti in three sets in the first round. Even in the first-round win, Osaka did not look like she had it in her to stop Swiatek’s love affair with the clay courts of Roland Garros.

Swiatek did not throw in the towel despite nearly getting bageled in the second set and going down 2-5 in the third set. The World No. 1 and a 3-time champion saved a match point while trailing 3-5 before mounting an incredible comeback and avoid a final set tie-breaker.

Osaka showed signs of returning to her vintage self, moving freely across the court and hitting those forehand and backhand winners at will. Osaka’s down-the-line backhand winners had Swiatek in trouble as the World No. 1 had very few answers to the Japanese star’s groundstrokes at the Philippe-Chatrier for most of the last two sets.

It was Iga Swiatek’s character and grit that helped her sail through the third set against Osaka, who was firing on all cylinders.

Naomi Osaka and Iga Swiatek started the opening set, matching each other’s energy and skill on clay. Osaka served for the first set when she was leading 4-5 on Swiatek’s serve. However, the Polish superstar found a way to wriggle out of trouble and drag the four-time Grand Slam champion to a tie-breaker. Swiatek raised her game in the tie-breaker, winning it 7-1.