At the French Open Naomi Osaka achieves her first victory since the year 2021.

The unseeded Italian Lucia Bronzetti was defeated by Naomi Osaka in the first round of the French Open on Sunday. The match ended with a score of 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. This victory was Naomi Osaka’s first victory at Roland Garros in three years.

Having returned from a maternity leave that lasted for fifteen months this year, Naomi Osaka had been eliminated in the first round of the Australian Open in January. However, it seemed as if she would have no trouble advancing to the second round in Paris as the former world No. 1 dominated Bronzetti from the baseline.

Naomi Osaka had not won at the French Open since 2021, when she finally withdrew from the competition following a disagreement with tournament authorities on her failure to fulfill her mandated media commitments. The four-time Grand Slam winner had not won during that time period.

“There were moments in which I played pretty well, but I was pretty nervous and got really tight,” Naomi Osaka said during an interview that took place on the court after the match.

For example, Jelena Ostapenko and Sofia Kenin, both of whom have previously won major championships, advanced to the second round of the tournament on Sunday.

Barbora Krejcikova, the winner of the French Open in 2021, suffered a defeat at the hands of Viktorija Golubic, 7-6 (3), 6-4. This defeat brings the 24th-seeded Krejcikova’s record in Paris to 0-3 since she won the tournament with a perfect 7-0 record three years ago.

Before she recovered her composure in the third set, Naomi Osaka said that she was thinking about the lengthy period of time that had passed since her last victory at a Grand Slam tournament.

“I was kind of, in my head, thinking I didn’t win a match in Australia, so I’d really love to win one here,” she said to reporters. “It is quite clear that that line of reasoning was not a sensible one… Instead of attempting to play point by point, I sort of concentrated on it a little too much, and I believe that by the time I reached the finish of the game, I was able to get that concept out of my brain.

Bronzetti was able to break Naomi Osaka in the important game at 5-4 and force a deciding. Naomi Osaka controlled the first set on a windy Philippe Chatrier court, which she won in 28 minutes. However, her unforced mistakes increased dramatically in the second set, which allowed Bronzetti to break in the crucial game.

But Naomi Osaka, who is 26 years old, got back on track in the last set and had the potential to break for a 5-0 lead. However, she looked to disintegrate as world No. 67 Bronzetti battled her way back into the competition.

In the eleventh game, Naomi Osaka made a decisive break, which ultimately led to the victory that eventually sealed the deal in the back-and-forth fight.

The 48th-ranked Bronzetti has made three appearances at Roland Garros, although he has never been victorious there. Throughout her career, she has a record of 3-10 in Grand Slam competitions. In her most recent match, which took place last week in the quarterfinals of the Morocco Open, she was leading the American Peyton Stearns by a score of 5-0 in the third set, but she ultimately lost.

The top seed and current world number one, Iga Swiatek, who is also the reigning winner of the French Open for the second time, is expected to be Naomi Osaka’s next opponent. In the first round of competition, Swiatek will play a match on Monday against Leolia Jeanjean, a French qualifier.

“I’m honestly really excited [about likely playing Swiatek],” Naomi Osaka said after her triumph on Sunday. “I’m actually really excited.” “When I was pregnant, I spent a lot of time watching her, and to tell you the truth, I consider it a privilege to compete against her at the French Open since she has won this tournament more than once. Without a doubt, it is a tremendous honor and a wonderful task for me.

Kenin made a comeback and defeated Laura Siegemund by scores of 4-6, 6-2, and 6-2. Kenin, who won the Australian Open and finished second at the French Open in 2020, will now compete against Caroline Garcia of France, who is ranked number 21 in the world.

Amanda Anisimova, an American tennis player who made it to the quarterfinals of Roland Garros in 2019 as a teenager, triumphed against Rebecca Šramková by a score of 7-6, 6-4. Following her comeback from a groin muscle injury that had kept her out of action since January, Anisimova had a record of 1-3 since then.

She had reached the fourth round of the Australian Open in January, but ultimately lost to Aryna Sabalenka, who went on to win the tournament.

“It wasn’t a fantastic start to my Europe swing since I didn’t have the greatest start. With that being said, Anisimova said, “I was going into it with the intention of really learning what I did wrong in those tournaments and seeing what I can adjust.” “I’m just happy with the way I played and I fought.”