Tennis, French Open: Iga Swiatek survives Naomi Osaka scare; Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner progress
Swiatek was pushed to the brink by fellow-four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka.
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Defending champion Iga Swiatek escaped from match point down against Naomi Osaka to reach the French Open third round on Wednesday, while Carlos Alcaraz overcame a scare of his own as persistent rain caused widespread disruption to the tournament.
Swiatek outlasted fellow four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5 in a breathtaking second-round clash, livening a gloomy day in which 23 singles matches were postponed until Thursday.
World No 1 Swiatek won the last five games of the match to keep her bid for a third successive Roland Garros title on track. Justine Henin was the last woman to achieve the feat in 2005-07.
She is attempting to become only the fourth woman in the Open era to lift four Roland Garros titles and just the second – after Serena Williams – to complete the clay-court treble of Madrid, Rome and French Opens in the same season.
“This match was really intense, much more intense for the second round than I ever expected,” said Swiatek, who fought off a match point on Osaka’s serve while trailing 5-3 in the deciding set.
“Naomi played amazing tennis and maybe she is going to be a clay-court specialist in a while!”
Osaka, appearing at only a second Grand Slam since giving birth to her daughter...
