Swiatek survives almighty scare to defeat Osaka in three-set thriller as French Open fans come under fire

Defending champion Iga Swiatek came back from the brink to defeat Naomi Osaka in a French Open second-round thriller, saving a match point as she narrowly avoided her earliest exit at Roland Garros, where the boisterous crowd was chastised on Wednesday.

With fans starved for action on a day when persistent rain washed out play on the outside courts, the two four-time Grand Slam champions delivered a memorable battle on court Philippe Chatrier, despite the fact that hundreds of ticket holders had already returned home.

"This match was really intense, much more than I would have expected for a second round. I'll be more ready next time. Naomi played some amazing tennis with a loose hand," said Swiatek, the winner here in 2020, 2022 and 2023, after her 7-6(1) 1-6 7-5 victory.

Swiatek saved a set point before forcing a tiebreak, which she easily won, but Osaka, returning to the French Open for the first time since 2022 after a maternity leave, went all in.

The 26-year-old blazed through the second set, peppering the court with jaw-dropping winners, and showed no signs of slowing down in the decider, until she cracked under pressure.

She lost all the remaining games after leading 5-2, as winners turned into ugly unforced errors.

Serving for the match at 5-3, Osaka hit a routine forehand into the net and then buried another on match point.

Swiatek was fired up by that point, and she didn't let it go, fighting another day in Paris and extending her winning streak to 14 matches after winning titles in Madrid and Rome.

The Pole, however, had a message for the French Open crowd, which is notoriously fickle.

"Basically for you, because it's entertainment and we make a lot of money thanks to you, sometimes when we are under a lot of pressure you scream during the rallies and it's hard to stay focused," Swiatek told the crowd.

Her intervention was met with cheers and a few boos.

"This is serious, we're fighting to be better and better, there's a lot of money to earn here. You can support us between the rallies but not during the rallies, please."

"I know the French crowd gets players they don't like and they boo, but I know you love me so let's keep that."

It wasn't the first time the Roland Garros faithful, known for arriving late for afternoon matches after long lunches and occasionally picking on players, were in the spotlight for the wrong reason on Wednesday.

Belgian David Goffin accused partisan fans of "total disrespect" and claimed he was spat at by a spectator during his marathon first-round win over local favourite Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

"It's really too much. It's becoming football, soon there will be smoke bombs, hooligans and fights in the stands. It's starting to become ridiculous. Some people are there more to cause trouble than to create an atmosphere," Goffin said.

Tournament organisers stated that officials would ensure that fans followed the rules and respected the players.

"The public are incredibly enthusiastic, particularly on the outside courts," they said in a statement on Wednesday.

"However, they must of course show full respect to all players while doing so."

Only nine matches were expected to be completed on Wednesday, with Carlos Alcaraz, former runners-up Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Coco Gauff advancing to the third round.

Jannik Sinner, the world number two and Australian Open champion, easily defeated French veteran Richard Gasquet, who is 37 years old and nearing the end of his career.

Italian Sinner won 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 to advance to the third round, where he will face either former French Open champion Stan Wawrinka or Russian Pavel Kotov.

SportsLigue