Japan’s Naomi Osaka shows best and worst in Paris first-round win

Japan’s Naomi Osaka displayed the best and worst sides of her game in a 6-2 7-5 first-round win against American Sofia Kenin at the French Open on Monday. The 21st seed seemed en route to a nice morning stroll on court 3 in Paris but lost her focus in the second set before regaining her composure to set up a second-round meeting with Zarina Diyas of Kazakhstan.

Osaka, 20, defeated Victoria Azarenka in the first round in Rome earlier this month before managing only one game against world number one Simona Halep in the second, and she started on the right foot against Kenin. She blazed through the opening set but let her guard down early in the second as Kenin broke in the first game to open a 2-0 lead.

The Japanese continued to spray the court with unforced errors, allowing her opponent to steal her serve a second time.

Then Kenin suffered a terrible meltdown as Osaka won 18 out of 20 points to go from 5-2 down to 6-5 up. She wrapped it up on Kenin’s serve on her first match point when the American sent a forehand long.