Swiatek back from the brink as French Open fans come under fire

PARIS : Defending champion Iga Swiatek came back from the brink to down Naomi Osaka in a French Open second-round blockbuster, saving a match point as she just avoided her earliest exit at Roland Garros, where the wild crowd came under fire on Wednesday.

With fans starved of action on a day when persistent rainfall washed out play on the outside courts, the two four-time Grand Slam champions served up a memorable battle on court Philippe Chatrier, even if hundreds of ticket holders had already returned to the warmth of their homes.

"This match was really intense, much more than I would have expected for a second round. I'll be more ready next time. Naomi played some amazing tennis with a loose hand," said Swiatek, the winner here in 2020, 2022 and 2023, after her 7-6(1) 1-6 7-5 victory.

Swiatek saved a set point before forcing a tiebreak that she won comfortably, but Osaka, back at the French Open for the first time since 2022 after a maternity break, went all in.

Peppering the court with jaw-dropping winners, the 26-year-old blazed through the second set and showed no signs of slowing down in the decider, until she cracked under pressure.

Leading 5-2, she lost all the remaining games as winners turned into sometimes ugly unforced errors.

Serving for the match at 5-3, Osaka netted a routine forehand and she buried another one on match point.

Swiatek by then was all fired up and she did not let it slide, getting to fight another day in Paris and extending her winning run to 14 matches after claiming the titles in Madrid and Rome.

The Pole, however, had a message for the French Open fans, known to be a fickle crowd.

"Basically for you, because it's entertainment and we make a lot of money thanks to you, sometimes when we are under