Naomi Osaka misses huge rankings boost as match point against Iga Swiatek slips away

Naomi Osaka came within one point of rocking the tennis world as she held match point against defending champion and world No 1 Iga Swiatek at the French Open, but the moment of glory slipped through her fingers.

Osaka looked set to pull off her biggest win in years when she led the world number one and defending champion 5-2 in the third set, but the 26-year-old from Japan will have nightmares about a missed forehand as Swiatek survived a match point to come from the brink of defeat and win 7-6 (1) 1-6 7-5.

It was a remarkable effort from Osaka, the former world No 1 who only returned to action after maternity leave in January.

Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka has never particularly liked playing on the clay, having not progressed past the third round in Paris, and is now ranked 134 in the world.

Swiatek, by contrast, has looked invincible on her best surface this season, winning her last 13 matches including titles in Madrid and Rome, and was a red-hot favourite for a third successive Roland Garros title, and a fourth in five years.

Yet it was Osaka who had the match in her grasp as she took control of the deciding set, only to slip up when the winning line approached.

“I cried after the match, but I watched Iga win Roland Garros last year while I was pregnant so I can’t be too hard on myself,” said Osaka.

“I played her on her best surface. I’m a hard court child. It was my dream just to play her. I think I did pretty well against her on her surface. I wanna play her on hard courts, my surface.

READ MORE: Iga Swiatek survives Naomi Osaka at French Open: 3 reasons classic encounter was so close

“It was a very fun match, probably the most fun I’ve played. Very memorable.”

Osaka made her return to tennis at the start of this year after becoming a mother in 2023 and she was starting from scratch in many ways, with her ranking down at No 747 just three months ago.

Not only was she trying to find her feet back on the match court after so long away, but the fourth time Grand Slam champion was also in a race for points as she tried to get herself into a position to be seeded for major events once again.

It was always going to take time for Osaka to get back to the top, but he status secured her entry to top tier WTA Tour events via wildcards and some impressive performances saw her make a rapid rise up the rankings.

Making the quarter-finals in Doha in February saw her climb 461 places in the rankings and he made further leaps to be knocking on the door of the top 100 heading into the French Open.

Her wins against top 20-ranked players Marta Kostyuk and Daria Kasatkina at the WTA 1000 event in Rome earlier this month was a sign that Osaka is getting back to a level to mix it with the best players in the game, but beating clay court queen Swiatek at Roland Garros would have been a huge moment in her comeback.

Victory in this match would have pushed Osaka close to a return to the top 100 of the WTA Rankings, but it would also have left a huge hole in the top half of the draw if she had knocked Swiatek out.

Despite her obvious disappointment, Osaka will look to the rest of 2024 with real optimism and she looks set to be a real threat when she gets onto her favoured hard courts in America in August.

This was the best performance of her comeback so far and if she can pushed the world No 1 this close on her favoured clay courts, Osaka is getting back to her brilliant best.