Nick of Time

Swiatek holds off Osaka, barely

PARIS – Iga Swiatek was fearless during and after the latest great women’s tennis match in a springtime happily awash in thrillers.

Once again, Swiatek, the world No. 1, rose up just in time: producing what she needed against a resurgent but ultimately fragile Naomi Osaka.

Swiatek rallied from a 2-5 deficit in the third set; saved a match point at 3-5 with a big-bang, second-serve return that Osaka could not handle, and ultimately scrapped and willed her way to a 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5 victory in the second round.

Escape complete, she assigned herself an even pricklier task: lecturing the volatile and surprisingly sparse French Open crowd in English on tennis etiquette.