Badosa vs Osaka: Things We Learned

It was a heavyweight tilt 

Neither Badosa (No.10) nor Osaka (No.49) is at their optimal ranking, but give them the big stage and prepare to be wowed. Breathtaking power tennis was on display from both inside Court Philippe-Chatrier on Monday as the pair belted the ball with gusto, traded momentum and produced epic bursts of power. 

In the end, Badosa was the more consistent player across the two hour and 21-minute battle. She produced 27 winners to 35 for Osaka, and many of them were of the jaw-dropping variety.

On the flip side, Badosa produced only 12 unforced errors across the second and third sets, while Osaka hit 32. 

“I knew that I had to be consistent, especially on this surface,” Badosa said. “Whoever is the most consistent has a big advantage, and as you know, I’m always going to fight. Even though I was 2-0 down I was telling myself to keep going because the level is high, and let the best one win.” 

Badosa: fit and firing

Make note: when former world No.2 Badosa is healthy, she can produce an extraordinarily high level of tennis. The 27-year-old has been limited to just two matches on the clay this spring, as a back injury forced her to pull out of Stuttgart, Madrid and Rome, but she showed no sign of limitation on Monday. 

She has been hampered by a stress fracture in her back for two years now, but when Badosa has been healthy she has consistently produced lights-out tennis. 

Today’s win was yet another example of what her game looks like when she’s free to play with no pain. It would have been easy for her to hang her head after losing the opening set to Osaka, but the Spaniard refused to wilt, roaring back to flip the script with a tenacious effort.

It was that tenacity that led to Badosa’s critical late break in the deciding set, the Spaniard playing incredible defence and forcing Osaka to hit one extra ball, which produced an unforced error and a 4-3 lead in the decider. 

She didn’t falter from there, and closed out the match with a hold to love for her 12th career Roland-Garros win against four losses. 

The kind of victory that puts wind in the sails

Who knows how far the 2021 quarter-finalist can go from here. Let us not forget that she has fought through her injury woes to reach the second week in each of her last three Grand Slam appearances. After taking out a player like Osaka, who was in fine form on the clay, Badosa’s confidence will surely be bolstered.

The Spaniard will be looking for another second week appearance here in Paris, and will face Elena-Gabriela Ruse in her second-round match.

A long awaited showdown

The pair were slated to meet in the second round of Rome, but Badosa had to withdraw due to her back issue at the last minute. Now that we've got a glimpse of what a proper Badosa vs Osaka tussle looks like, all we can say is: more please.

Badosa admits that she had mixed feelings about playing the four-time Grand Slam champion in the opening round in Paris. 

“I was really looking forward to playing Naomi,” she said. “She’s a player that I respect – what she did on and off the court – and I love her tennis.

"Honestly, it’s not fair that I had to play her first round, but I’m really happy with the level, especially coming from an injury.”

Make it two tough draws in a row for Osaka at Roland-Garros. She ran into four-time champion Iga Swiatek in the second round last year, holding a match point before falling 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-5, in two hours and 57 minutes of dramatic tennis. 

Osaka drops to 8-7 lifetime on the Parisian clay.