Naomi Osaka's near upset of Iga Świątek at Roland Garros praised by Andy Murray and his fans

The tennis world has been patiently waiting for Naomi Osaka to return to her vintage form, and that's exactly what she did on Wednesday.

Osaka produced one of her best performances in three years in a nail-biting loss to world number one Iga Świątek in the French Open second round at Roland Garros. Świątek avoided an upset with a 7-6(1), 1-6, 7-5 victory. It would have been Osaka's first top-10 win since 2020 and her first win over a top-10 player on clay during her career, but she couldn't close things out.

Osaka played on the back foot in the first set, falling behind by scores of 3-1 and 4-2 before coming back to take leads 5-4 and 6-5. However, Świątek managed to force a tiebreaker and dominated from the start, winning four straight points before Osaka rejoined the table and reached a score of 7–1.

Undeterred, Osaka earned a break point early in the second set and then fired on all cylinders. She beat Świątek twice before securing an easy 6–1 victory.

In the third set, the four-time major winner took a 3-0 lead and Świątek struggled to keep up. Osaka repelled five break chances for Świątek on the third point alone. Unfortunately, Świątek refused to go down easily and proved why she deserved the world No. 1 ranking.

Świątek broke Osaka to cut the lead to 5-4 and held serve on the next point to tie. Świątek broke her again to take a 6-5 lead and quickly ended things on the final point.

Despite the defeat, Osaka's brilliance received praise from fans on social media, as well as peers like British tennis star Andy Murray:

After struggling in the 2021 and 2022 seasons, Osaka took the 2023 season for maternity leave. Her first-round victory over Lucia Bronzetti on Sunday was her first victory in a major tournament since the 2022 Australian Open.

The 26-year-old was once tennis' most exciting young star, so her performance on Wednesday was undoubtedly a welcome sight for fans of the sport, even in a losing effort.

Świątek will face the winner of Marie Bouzkova vs. Jana Fett in the third round.