As Iga Swiatek took her first steps on the WTA Tour in 2019, one of her early breakthrough tournaments in Toronto ended with a meeting with Naomi Osaka.
Osaka was at the top of his game at the time and Sviatek was an 18-year-old rookie, but they fought as equals and Osaka narrowly won. Both players left the court recognizing each other as new rivals and soul mates.
So much has changed in the last five years, but on Wednesday night the dormant rivalry in women’s tennis came to life on one of the world’s biggest stages when Svetek and Osaka battled it out for three hours in Paris.
This time as a contender, Osaka played a spectacular match and reached the point of a stunning upset, but Swiatek showed his outstanding resilience by recovering to reach the third round of French Open Championship with an incredible 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5 victory.
“The second round is a lot more intense than I expected,” Swiatek said. “Naomi plays great tennis, sometimes taking a lot of risks. Maybe she’ll be a clay specialist. I am happy that she is back and playing well.”
With her win, Swiatek’s bid for a third consecutive French Open title and fourth overall remains alive. Despite building a reputation for her penchant for destroying her opponents, the world No.1 also showed she has become one of the most resilient and mentally sound players on tour.
Three weeks after saving three match points to beat Aryna Sabalenka in the Madrid Open final, Swiatek found his way again.
In the years since their first meeting, Swiatek has established himself at the very pinnacle of the sport, equaling Osaka’s Grand Slam tally with four titles and marking his place as a dominant figure.
While Osaka is ranked 134th and is slowly getting back on tour, Swiatek is world No. 1 with more than 3,500 points, winning tournaments in Madrid and Rome in preparation for Roland Garros.
Despite the hype surrounding the second-round match between the two most successful players in the women’s draw, few expected Osaka to have much of a chance against Swiatek under the circumstances.
But it was clear from the start that Osaka came in against Court Philippe-Chatrier to fight. Even as Swiatek stifled Osaka’s second serve and exposed her awkward clay movement with her spin and angles, the Japanese calmed down and began to pulverize the ball, rushing Swiatek’s forehand as she served accurately and consistently over 115mph.
Swiatek was soon the one under pressure, her error count skyrocketing as Osaka regained the break and reached set point on Osaka’s serve. After a set point at 4-5, Swiatek came back in the set, locked up his game and took the set in a one-sided tiebreak.
Despite her disappointment after the first set, Osaka continued to grow in the match. Her first serve became more precise, and the more confident she became, the earlier in the point Osaka launched nuclear forehands. As Swiatek’s unforced errors mounted, Osaka swept the second set before establishing 5-2, 0-30 on Swiatek’s serve in the deciding set.
But when Osaka came close to victory, she froze. At 5-3, Osaka held a match point at Ad-40 on her serve, which Swiatek dropped with a brilliant angled backhand return before regaining the break.
From this seemingly insurmountable deficit, Swiatek refused to offer more free points. Slowly but methodically, she turned the match around, reeling off the last five games to take the match.
While processing another incredible escape, Swiatek used his on-court interview to criticize the behavior of the crowd. “But sometimes under a lot of pressure, when you’re shouting something during the rally or right before the second leg, it’s really, really hard to stay focused,” she said.
“I don’t usually bring it up because I want to be the type of player who is in the zone and really focused. This is serious for us, we fight to be better all our lives. Sometimes it’s hard to accept.”
For Osaka, her best performance on her return from maternity leave ended in heartbreak, but when she faced the press, Osaka acknowledged the clear progress she had made. There will be more.
“I cried when I came off the court, but then I realized I was watching Iga win this tournament last year and I was pregnant,” she said.
“It was just my dream to be able to play it. Come to think of it, I think I’m doing pretty well. And I also just try not to be too hard on myself. I feel like I played her on her better surface. I’m a hard court kid, so I’d love to play her on my floor and see what happens.”
