Naomi Osaka pretty honestly admitted that she “relaxed” after easily winning the first set against Lucia Bronzetti but was happy that she was able to avoid a shock loss and seal a very probable French Open second-round meeting against defending champion Iga Swiatek.
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, got off to an outstanding start to her French Open return as she won the opener with a 6-1 scoreline. But when the second set started, Osaka wasn’t dominating anymore as Bronzetti managed to win the set 6-4 and force a third set.
After losing the second set, Osaka started showing her tennis from the first set as she opened a 4-0 third-set lead. But then, Osaka missed out on a break point for a 5-0 lead as Bronzetti went on to win the fifth game and the next four games to overturn the deficit and take a 5-4 lead.
Fortunately for Osaka, she was able to regroup – win the next three games – and ultimately seal a tight three-set win.
“I think I was paying too much attention to the score. Because when I saw it was 6-1, I felt a lot of relaxation, and then obviously I didn’t play well after that,” Osaka confessed after the match.
Osaka would be ‘honored’ to meet Swiatek at the French Open.
If No. 1 seed…
