Naomi Osaka said that she was proud of how she played against Iga Swiatek in the second round of the French Open 2024. On Wednesday, May 29, Osaka tried her heart out, but lost to the World No.1 6-7 (1-7), 6-1, 5-7 on Court Philippe Chatrier. In a match that lasted 2 hours and 57 minutes, 4-time Grand Slam winner Osaka put Swiatek under pressure several times, but could not have the last laugh.
Osaka broke Swiatek’s serve 5 out of 9 times, but her efforts fell short of taking her to the third round of the women’s singles at Roland Garros. Despite the defeat, Osaka said she has got better after making a return to the court following motherhood.
“You know I have my little book, right? In it today I just wrote: ‘I'm proud of you’,” Osaka said.
“I think for me, like, saying that to myself, it gives me a lot of power, because ... sometimes I curse myself out in my head, and it's quite a negative feeling. I would just say I'm proud of the journey. Hopefully it will get more and more positive,” Osaka said.
After running out of gas in the tie-breaker of the opening set, Osaka stormed into the second set to take the match into the decider. At 5-4, 40-30, she fetched herself a match point, thereby giving herself a chance to pull off a huge upset. But then, Swiatek earned back-to-back service breaks to get the better of her Japanese opponent.
The 26-year-old Osaka admitted that the match against Swiatek would be memorable for her because of the quality and the crowd support.
“(It was) probably the most fun match that I have played so far. It just felt really incredible, the atmosphere, and how fun I guess everyone in the crowd was having too. It was definitely very memorable for me,” Osaka added.
As far as Swiatek is concerned, she will next be up against the winner of the match between Croatia’s Jana Fett and Czech Republic’s Marie Bouzkova.
