No.13 seed fends off second-set fightback from Japanese star to equal best-ever Roland-Garros result.
Madison Keys equalled her career-best Roland-Garros by overcoming No.20 seed Naomi Osaka 6-1 7-6(7) to reach the last 16.
A fabulous second-set fightback from Osaka came to nought when she double faulted when facing match point. Afterwards Keys sounded as if she might almost be getting to like the red dirt.
“I’m figuring it out a little bit more every time I’m on this surface,” smiled Keys. “It grows on me a little bit more every year. A lot of times I either get too passive or too aggressive, so about it’s finding that middle ground and remembering great matches which I have had on clay courts.
“I obviously like playing against someone who has pace. So that's always great. But even seeing how she raised her level in the second set was a lot different from the last time we played each other [early last year]. You can tell she's definitely getting better and better, and making smarter decisions. Luckily I'm still a little bit older, so pulled out the veteran moves in this one.”
These two created a veritable production line of winners in the opening two rounds before this match, with Keys amassing 40 and Osaka boasting 34 from her second-round win alone. Yet on a blustery Court Suzanne-Lenglen it was all Keys in the first set, barely allowing the Indian Wells champion a look-in; and when the No.13 seed leapt out to a 3-1 lead in the second set, the match looked as good as done.
Not a bit of it. Somehow Osaka found an ember of confidence, and not only converted 1-3 to 4-3 but snapped off 10 successive points in the process. Keys regrouped for match point at 5-4, but Osaka forced the tiebreaker, only to see two set points go by and then deliver that double fault to seal her own fate.
“Normally I would be very sad at this point, and I’m not,” said Osaka. “At a set and a break down, the younger me would have just accepted I was losing. But this time I thought to myself that I don’t want to have any regrets even if I lose. So I kept fighting, and I’m not sad.”
Meantime with another 27 winners stashed in the locker from this one, it's all useful mental armour for Keys ahead of a surprise fourth-round meeting with Romania's Mihaela Buzarnescu, who stunned No.4 seed Elina Svitolina in straight sets.
Buzarnescu, seeded 31st here, is a new name to many, having broken into the top 50 only in January at the age of 29 (she is now 30). And it seems Keys is as unfamiliar with her as many others. “I have obviously played Svitolina, but not… I don’t know how to pronounce her last name so I won’t say it,” she grinned, prior to knowing the result.
“I’m going to rely on my lovely coaches to help me out there and give me a game plan, and then just hopefully execute it well.”
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
