Naomi Osaka won her first French Open title in three years on Sunday, setting up a potential showdown with Iga Swiatek, while Carlos Alcaraz maintained his unbeaten record in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament.
Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion who has yet to get past the third round in Paris, needed three sets to beat Italy’s world number 48, Lucia Bronzetti, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 on Court Philippe Chatrier in the final.
The 26-year-old hit 31 winners, including six aces, and made 45 unforced errors before trailing 4-5 in the deciding set after leading 4-0.
But she bounced back strongly to record her first Grand Slam victory since the 2022 Australian Open.
“I’m just happy to be back and so grateful to be here in front of you all,” Osaka said.
“I thought we had some really good moments.”
The Japanese star, a former world number one and currently ranked 134th, has endured a bittersweet relationship with the French capital.
In 2021, she was fined for declining mandatory media appearances before withdrawing from competition to protect her mental health.
A year later, she was eliminated in the first round and took 16 months off competition to give birth to her daughter in September 2022.
Swiatek, the top seed and defending champion seeking her fourth French Open title, will face Osaka if she beats qualifier Leolia Dzhanzhan on Monday.
Alcaraz, ranked third in the world and the reigning Wimbledon champion, easily defeated JJ Wolff, ranked 107th in the world and an American who entered the main draw as a “lucky loser” from qualifying, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1.
The 21-year-old Alcaraz, who reached the semifinals in 2023 before losing to Novak Djokovic, improved to 13-0 in his opening matches at major tournaments.
Alcaraz did not appear to be bothered by the right arm injury that ruled him out of the Rome Open, winning easily with 27 winners and nine breaks of serve.
– “You don’t need that many matches.” –
“You don’t need too many games to be at your best,” Alcaraz said.
“I only played four times in Madrid. Of course I would have liked to play more, but you don’t need that many to be 100%.”
“I’ve been training with a lot of top players in Paris this week and my forearm is feeling better and better.”
Later on Sunday, 2015 champion Stan Wawrinka, 39, will face 2016 runner-up Andy Murray in Paris for the 23rd time, including two semi-finals.
Murray is playing his final season on the tour and it remains to be seen whether 14-time champion Rafael Nadal will join him in retirement later this year.
Nadal, who turns 38 on June 3, said Saturday he has no plans to retire and “I want to keep the door open, 100 percent.”
He missed the 2023 tournament because of injury, but his appearance in 2024 could be short-lived, with him set to face world number four Alexander Zverev on Monday.
“It’s very possible that this will be my last Roland Garros, but if I say 100% that it’s my last Roland Garros, I’m sorry but I wouldn’t say that. You can’t predict what’s going to happen,” Nadal said.
The Spain legend has won 112 times in 115 matches in the competition since winning the title on his debut as a 19-year-old in 2005.
He has won 22 Grand Slam titles, second only to Djokovic’s 24 on the all-time men’s list, but his career has been plagued by injuries.
– “An Uncomfortable Position” –
Nadal has played in just four tournaments since January last year due to a hip injury and subsequent torn muscle.
As a result, his world ranking has dropped to 275th and he will enter the French Open unseeded.
“I had a long recovery process with a very difficult injury and suffered for almost two years, but I am feeling better now,” he added.
“There are definitely fewer restrictions than there were three or four weeks ago.”
French Open organisers were ready to hold a memorial for Nadal before making it clear he could continue playing.
“We were ready to press the button,” tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said.
“But it’s Rafa who manages the timing and we go by what he wants. We don’t want to put him in an uncomfortable position.”
In other matches Sunday, sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev, a two-time quarterfinalist, beat Japan’s Taro Daniel in four sets.
French number one Ugo Humbert, seeded 17th, lost 6-2, 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 7-5 to Italian Lorenzo Sonego.
DJC
