Swiatek survives Osaka in classic

PARIS  – Defending champion Iga Swiatek escaped from match point down against Naomi Osaka to reach the French Open third round on Wednesday, while Carlos Alcaraz overcame a scare of his own as persistent rain caused widespread disruption to the tournament.

Swiatek outlasted fellow four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka 7-6 (7/1), 1-6, 7-5 in a breathtaking second-round clash, livening a gloomy day in which 23 singles matches were postponed until Thursday.

World number one Swiatek won the last five games of the match to keep her bid for a third successive Roland Garros title on track. Justine Henin was the last woman to achieve the feat in 2005-07.

She is attempting to become only the fourth woman in the Open era to lift four Roland Garros titles and just the second – after Serena Williams – to complete the clay-court treble of Madrid, Rome and French Opens in the same season.

“This match was really intense, much more intense for the second round than I ever expected,” said Swiatek, who fought off a break point on Osaka’s serve while trailing 5-3 in the deciding set.

“Naomi played amazing tennis and maybe she is going to be a clay-court specialist in a while!”