Naomi Osaka Survive First Round Exit To SetUp Clash With Azarenka
Naomi Osaka survived a scare and what would have prematurely ended her big for a third straight Grand Slam title by coming from behind to defeat Karolina Schmiedlova and consequently reach the French Open second round.
Osaka twice had to stop Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova serving out the match before winning 0-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 at the Roland Garros in Paris.
Karolina Schmiedlova who is ranked 90th in the world, made very little errors until victory was in sight, but the pressure of a career-best win and inexperience told as Japan’s Osaka fought back to win the tie.
The US and Australian Open champion, playing in her first Grand Slam as the top seed is now poised to lock horns with two-time Grand Slam champion Victoria Azarenka of Belarus in the second round of the Roland Garros.
Azarenka, 29, on the other hand beat 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in one of the most anticipated ties of the round to secure a round two tie against Naomi Osaka.
Before Tuesday’s opening match, Osaka had lost only once coming into the first round of a Grand Slam , at Roland Garros against Alison van Uytvanck in 2017.
The Japanese who has had to put up with a hand injury she sustained recently, never looked comfortable in the first half of the match. Indeed, she made 34 unforced errors in the opening two sets.
Schmiedlova, 24, playing her first match against Osaka and with a solitary win against a top-10 player had a very fine game with only five unforced errors on her way to going a set and a break up.
But, tightening up as victory evident allowed Osaka to break back into the game at 5-4 and 6-5.
From that point Schmiedlova never looked like threatening again as she felt overwhelmed by the recovery of the Japanese.
Osaka’s body language steadily improved, along with her ball striking, and she dropped only six more points to win the final five games.
Osaka now has to do enough if she’s to take anything away from her clash with Azarenka.
