TENNIS: Style and steel as Osaka tames Vekic to reach Paris third round

Former world number one Naomi Osaka made another dazzling entry at the French Open on Thursday, but she was made to work hard to avoid the exit door in a 7-6(1) 6-4 victory over Croatian Donna Vekic in the second round.

• Osaka, who wore a sequined waistcoat blouse and black mesh train over her layered yellow-brown and gold match dress in the opening round, arrived for the contest with Vekic in a white floor-length flared train over her outfit.

• On another blazing day in Paris, the Japanese player traded breaks freely with Vekic in the opening set on Court Simonne Mathieu, before finding her best form during the tiebreak to prevail for the loss of only one point.

• Down a set, Paris Olympics silver medallist Vekic began to deploy a series of drop shots to trouble Osaka early in the second set but her challenge fizzled out as she surrendered her serve in the ninth game.

• Osaka saved a break point in the next game to close out the win in one hour and 50 minutes, reaching the third round for the first time since 2019.

• She will face 16th seed Iva Jovic in the third round, after the American beat compatriot Emma Navarro 6-0 6-3 earlier.

-Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in ParisEditing by Christian Radnedge/Reuters