Day 4 of the French Open was heavily impacted by bad weather. Despite that, four women’s matches were still completed. Defending champion Iga Swiatek’s heavyweight clash with Naomi Osaka was among the contests played, while there was also an upset in Paris. This article recaps who looked, who struggled and which match was the best of the day.
French Open Day 4 Women’s Recap
Who Looked Good
Coco Gauff produced another very solid performance at the French Open to progress to the second round. The US Open champion defeated Tamara Zidansek 6-3 6-4. Gauff had a very good day on return, breaking her Slovenian opponent on five occasions. The American was not quite as secure on serve and she was broken three times as a result. That is an area to improve for the later rounds but she will be pleased with her overall performance.
Ons Jabeur battled through in three sets against Camila Osorio on Day 4. The final score was 6-3 1-6 6-3 in favour of the Tunisian. Jabeur had to work hard for the result against the Colombian, who was stubborn in defense and forced the three-time Grand Slam champion into making many errors. In the end, Jabeur raised her level in the nick of time in the third set to prevail.
Sofia Kenin knocked out the 21st seed and home favourite Caroline Garcia. Although Kenin is a former runner-up at the French Open, she had been experiencing a very difficult season before the tournament started, with just three wins to her name. Yet, she managed to find much of her best tennis in a 6-3 6-3 victory. Kenin was solid throughout the contest, making very few mistakes.
Who Looked Bad
Although Kenin played well, Garcia will be disappointed with her performance at the French Open. The 2022 WTA Finals champion simply made too many unforced errors to fully compete during the match. That has been Garcia’s biggest issue since her excellent 2022 season. Eradicating that is the biggest thing she needs to do to have a chance of going deep at Grand Slams and other big tournaments.
Match Of The Day
The best French Open women’s match on Day 4 was very obvious. Iga Swiatek saved a match point to win a thrilling battle against Naomi Osaka. This contest truly lived up to its billing. A high-quality opening set saw Swiatek save a set point at 4-5 down, before upping her level even further to take the first set on a tiebreak. But Osaka then came roaring back, dominating the world No. 1 in the second set. After racing into a 4-0 lead, she forced the match into a decider by winning the set 6-1. Osaka then broke Swiatek and saved multiple break points to leave herself on the brink of victory at 5-3 and match point up.
However, Swiatek then showed why she is the world No. 1 and the best clay-court player in the world. She saved the match point and somehow clawed her way back to win a memorable match 7-6 1-6 7-5. It was one of the best second-round matches ever played at the French Open.
Main Photo Credit: Taya Gray/The Desert Sun / USA TODAY NETWORK
