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French Open 2019: Naomi Osaka avoids upset against Victoria Azarenka

Japan's Naomi Osaka held off an upset bid at the French Open. (AP)
Japan's Naomi Osaka held off an upset bid at the French Open. (AP)

A French Open battle between two No. 1-ranked players with two Grand Slams apiece ended up being every bit as good as expected. In the end, Naomi Osaka eluded a stunning defeat at the hands of Victoria Azarenka, advancing to the third round with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 victory.

Osaka, the reigning No. 1, currently holds both the U.S. Open and Australian Open titles, and coming into Thursday had won 15 straight Grand Slam matches. But she wasn’t able to escape an early hole, and needed immense talent and willpower to avoid getting blown off Court Suzanne-Lenglen in straight sets.

Azarenka, a former world No. 1 and a two-time Australian Open winner, rolled off an immediate 5-1 lead in the first set before Osaka joined the match and pulled to within 5-4 before losing the first set.

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In the crucial second set, Azarenka was up a break and leading 4-2 when Osaka dug deep and won her service game. Osaka then broke Azarenka to even the score at 4. Azarenka had held game point three separate times to potentially go up 5-3, but wasn’t able to close out Osaka, and eventually lost the second set 7-5.

After Azarenka took nearly 11 minutes to return to the court for the third and deciding set, she wasn’t able to convert on potential break points, and Osaka held serve in the first game. Osaka would go on to stretch her lead to 5-1 and appeared to have the match in hand before Azarenka edged her way back into the match. But on her third attempt at match point, Osaka finally converted, and eluded the upset in almost three hours of world-class tennis.

Victoria Azarenka nearly upset world no. 1 Naomi Osaka. (Getty)
Victoria Azarenka nearly upset world no. 1 Naomi Osaka. (Getty)

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.