Triple Roland Garros champion (2020, 2022 and 2023). World number one, a position guaranteed in the ranking that will be published after the Paris tournament. Fourteen matches unbeaten in the tournament, thirteen matches won in a row, the best was in the WTA 1000 in Madrid and Rome as a guarantee for the defense of the crown in the French capital.
The queen of the clay court and favorite, the Polish Iga Swiatek, avoided exiting the competition which was already in the second round. That would have been his worst result in six participations.
If the draw is uneven, pairing Rafael Nadal with Alexander Zverevalso sparked a rivalry between the champions and world No. 1 which was almost fatal for Swiatek, a devoted Spanish fan, whom he followed from the stands during his German match.
In the same scenario, also indoors as the first days of the event were rained out, Swiatek staged an epic comeback against the former number one and champion of two Australian Opens and another pair of US Opens, the Japanese. Naomi Osaka.
Swiatek, just 23 years old, surpassed Osaka, 26 and only 134 in the ranking because she decided to stop playing to become the mother of a daughter in July 2023. She returned in January 2024, after fifteen months of leave. Roland Garros has never been his kingdom, as he is more adapted to the hard court than the dirt, but he saves his status as a figure to force the Pole into misery.
Swiatek won 7-6 (1), 1-6 and 7-5 in 2h.57′. The Asian came back from 9 break balls down. He lost the tenth, then after missing match point in the ninth game of the third set. That opened the door for Swiatek, which he didn’t waste.
From being on the brink of 1-5, from being a foot and a half out with 3-5 and the match ball, to winning five games in a row.
“Naomi, Naomi, Naomi,” cheered the Japanese fans, over their latest great champion. In 2021, he withdrew before playing in the second round because he refused to attend press conferences, invoking his right to mental health care. The contest refused, he left it.
Osaka suffered with the Italian Lucia Bronzetti, she asserted herself against Iga Swiatek, who took the award from her. She survived to advance to the third round against Croatian Jana Fett or Czech Marie Bouzkova.
Source: La Verdad
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