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ROLAND GARROS – It’s fair to say that most of thee “darkhorses” in the women’s draw this year at Roland Garros are still top-10 players.
Jasmine Paolini, Jessica Pegula, that sort of thing.
But below that, can we put in a word for Naomi Osaka?
Osaka, seen below Monday morning warming up for a tough first-round match against No. 10 seed Paula Badosa, dropped down a level to play a WTA 125 in Saint-Malo France. (We’d tell you the dates, but they no longer provide this information on the WTA website – but it was a few weeks ago).
She won it – not routinely. But she put together five match wins in a row against players ranked outside the top 100 and defeated former top-60 player Kaja Juvan in the final.
In Rome, she put together three more wins – against Sara Errani, Viktorija Golubic and the always tough Marie Bouzkova. The last two were comeback wins. And Peyton Stearns needed a third-set tiebreak to take her out in the fourth round.
Osaka has never been past the third round in Paris – going back to her debut in 2016 when she lost to Simona Halep. Last year, she lost 7-5 in the third set of the second round to eventual champion Iga Swiatek in one of the best matches of the year – and one she very possibly could have/should have won.
It’s been a long, gradual road back to fitness for Osaka after the birth of her daughter.
But she definitely is getting there in a hurry. And you can tell she’s feeling good about herself by what she’s wearing on the practice court (ladies – you know what we’re talking about).
Now – if she wears that headgear on the match court, we’ll be impressed. Ish.
Unseeded, but finally ranked back in the top 50 after that Saint-Malo title, Osaka has a manageable draw for a few rounds if she can get past Badosa.
Second round would be McCartney Kessler or Elena-Gabriela Ruse. And her third round would likely be Daria Kasatkia.
After that, it might be Mirra Andreeva. But that’s the second week.
What do you think?
