PARIS — Amanda Anisimova knocked Naomi Osaka out of one other Grand Slam event on Monday, defeating her, 7-5, 6-4, within the first spherical of the French Open.
Anisimova, a 20-year-old American with an influence recreation that bears fairly a resemblance to Osaka’s, needed to save two match factors earlier than defeating Osaka in a three-set thriller within the third spherical of this 12 months’s Australian Open.
However Anisimova was way more environment friendly on Monday, cracking often beneath Osaka’s weight of shot and the burden of the second however finally navigating the essential phases of the match with aplomb.
She served out the primary set at love, hanging three winners, after which served out the match, ending off Osaka on her third match level with a cocksure backhand winner down the road that Osaka had no probability to succeed in.
“If you see Naomi Osaka within the first spherical, you don’t suppose it’s going to be straightforward,” Anisimova stated. “A really robust match, and going on the market I knew I needed to play good tennis, and the situations weren’t straightforward.”
Seen objectively, this was no upset. Osaka, a former No. 1 from Japan, is without doubt one of the greatest stars in sports activities and the very best paid feminine athlete on the earth by a big margin. However she has not been a dominant power on tour for properly over a 12 months now and has by no means been a dominant power on the French Open’s clay-court floor.
All 4 of Osaka’s Grand Slam singles titles had been gained on hardcourts: two on the Australian Open and two at the USA Open. She has by no means reached even the ultimate of a clay-court occasion on tour and has by no means been previous the third spherical of the French Open.
Final 12 months, struggling on and off courtroom, she withdrew earlier than the second spherical due to a standoff with French Open officers over her refusal to seem at necessary post-match information conferences. She cited her psychological well being as the rationale for skipping them for so long as she was within the event however didn’t have interaction with event officers immediately earlier than saying her resolution or within the aftermath after they sought additional rationalization. Confronted with an absence of background, they fined her $15,000 for lacking her first-round information convention and made it clear that she risked being defaulted from the event and future Grand Slam tournaments if she continued to refuse to adjust to the media necessities.
It was a surprisingly arduous line, and Osaka selected to withdraw relatively than escalate the state of affairs, explaining solely as she introduced her withdrawal through social media that she had skilled lengthy bouts of despair since successful her first main title on the 2018 U.S. Open.
L’Affaire Osaka at Roland Garros sparked a large debate on mental-health points in sports activities and has led to the ladies’s tour offering much more mental-health assets for its gamers on and off web site. Osaka has stated that she wish to have dealt with the state of affairs in Paris otherwise. The French Open has modified a few of its management, with longtime event director Man Overlook being changed this 12 months by Amélie Mauresmo, a former No. 1 participant on the ladies’s tour who has made gamers’ psychological well being a precedence. Beneath her management, the French Open has diminished entry to participant areas for reporters this 12 months.
Mauresmo additionally made a transparent effort to greet Osaka on and off courtroom when she returned to Roland Garros this 12 months. Osaka arrived unseeded and having performed simply two singles matches on clay all 12 months after withdrawing from the Italian Open earlier this month due to a left Achilles’ tendon damage.
Her decrease left ankle was taped on Monday for the rematch with Anisimova, the No. 27 seed, who as the upper ranked participant, walked on the Suzanne Lenglen Court docket after her opponent.
The ball hanging was ferocious from the opening level. Although situations had been humid and heavy on the clay, Anisimova and Osaka each have the punching energy to hit winners in any situations. However Anisimova, tall and with a style for threat, has had much more success at Roland Garros thus far than Osaka. As a 17-year-old, Anisimova reached the semifinals in 2019 earlier than shedding to eventual champion Ashleigh Barty.
