Paula Badosa arrived at Roland Garros with only two matches played since March in Miami, a win (via retirement by Marie Bouzkova) and a loss (Liudmila Samsonova) last week in Strasbourg.
“I have to be realistic,” the No. 10-seeded Badosa said in her pre-tournament press conference. “Of course, if I’m delusional and I want to dream, I’m like, well, I’m approaching this tournament same as Australian Open. No, that’s not the reality.
“I just played one full match in the last two months and a half. For me every minute on court now is very valuable. So it’s just that and no expectations.”
Those expectations may have shifted after Badosa’s rousing 6-7 (1), 6-1, 6-4 victory over Naomi Osaka. The 27-year-old Spaniard prevailed with a gritty comeback that ran 2 hours and 20 minutes. She’ll play the winner of the later match between McCartney Kessler and Elena Gabriela Ruse.
Badosa has now won 12 main-draw matches at the French Open, the most she’s had at any tournament. She has reached the third round in each of her previous four appearances.
Badosa saved six of eight break points and finished with an even 27 winners to 27 unforced errors. Osaka hit 36 winners but was undone by 54 errors.
“First set was very high level — she won,” Badosa said afterward. “The third set was a very, very high level. It went my side. I have to be honest, it’s not fair to have a first round like this.
“I mean, now I’m tired honestly. I’m very happy on how my body responded today. We were playing very long rallies. She hits hard. We were both playing. I think we both went to the limit.”
Osaka is now 0-6 for her career on clay against opponents ranked in the Top 10.
When the draw came out in Rome, Badosa and Osaka were scheduled to play in the second round, but Badosa withdrew when her back injury hadn’t healed sufficiently. As a result, their first career meeting came Monday in Paris on the biggest clay court in the world, Court Philippe Chatrier.
“As you all know, she’s a great, great player — I respect her so much,” Badosa told reporters. “I know she likes to play the big matches. It’s where she plays her best game.”
The match stayed on serve for the first 48 minutes, before Badosa finally converted to take a 6-5 lead. She actually had a set point, but Osaka battled back to force the tiebreak.
In a display of offensive dominance, Osaka won all four of her service points, while winning three of Badosa’s four. Osaka finished the set with four aces and 17 winners, nearly double Badosa’s nine.
And then Badosa asserted herself in the second set, saving a break point and converting two to send it to a deciding set. Badosa struck eight winners and only four unforced errors, 12 fewer than in the opening set.
The two players traded breaks early in the third set but Badosa broke through in the seventh game. Then, serving at 4-3, Badosa weathered a 14-point game, saving a break point to take a definitive 5-3 lead.
Osaka held, forcing Badosa to serve for the match, which she did — at love.
AloJapan.com