Naomi Osaka mounts stunning comeback, saves match points against Samsonova at Canadian Open

Naomi Osaka snatched an incredible victory against Liudmila Samsonova, saving three match points in the second set, advancing to the third round of the Canadian Open with a score of 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-4. The four-time Grand Slam champion suffered and rescued a match that was practically lost against the world No. 16.

Osaka is playing her first tournament after separating from coach Patrick Mouratoglou, with whom she had been for the past 10 months. The 27-year-old star had debuted with a comfortable win against young Canadian Ariana Arseneault (6-4, 6-2) and now secures her second consecutive triumph.

This was the 5th encounter between Samsonova and Osaka, and they had a prior H2H of 2-2, although Osaka had claimed victory in their two previous hardcourt clashes.

The world No. 48 advances to the third round, where she will face the winner between Renata Zarazua and Jelena Ostapenko (22nd seed). On the other hand, Samsonova will travel quickly to Cincinnati to prepare for her next tournament, which starts next week.

It wasn't a good start for Osaka, who showed doubts on her very first service game, allowing Samsonova to secure an early break. The Russian quickly took a 2-0 lead without conceding points on her serve, establishing the key difference for the set.

Both players became strong on their serves, and throughout the set, neither faced too many scares. Samsonova remained consistently firm in maintaining her lead, only encountering problems in the 6th game, when she was up 3-2 and Osaka had her first break opportunity, though she couldn't convert it. Keeping a cool head until the end of the set, Samsonova came back from 15-30 in the 10th game to take the set 6-4.

The second set once again started complicated for Naomi Osaka, who lost her first three service points and found herself 0-40 right at the beginning of the second set. With a Samsonova who gave no chances on serve, Osaka had to fight to stay in that moment of the match, saving up to 5 break points against her before holding her first game.

It didn't help much, as in her next service game, Samsonova took her first opportunity and secured the break. From that point on, the Russian held onto her serve, saving only one break point against her throughout the set.

As Samsonova fought to close out the victory, Osaka saved up to three match points and finally secured the break she had battled for throughout the match, leveling the score at 5-5. Both held their serves, sending the set to a tie-break. The tie-break had epic overtones, with Samsonova leading 5-2, but Osaka managed a comeback with four consecutive points, and on her second set point, she finally clinched a set that at times seemed virtually lost.

As the third set began, Osaka seized momentum, securing a break in the first game and then consolidating her lead to 2-0 with her serve. The Japanese star was determined to push for the win, and Samsonova found herself almost unable to respond on return. The pressure on the Russian intensified when Osaka claimed a second break, putting her up 4-1 with serve to follow.

Samsonova managed to break back and narrow the gap to 4-3 with her own serve, but it was too late to mount a full comeback. Osaka hit the accelerator in the final stretch, closing out a confidence-boosting 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3 victory that sends her to the third round.

Recently, Naomi Osaka made a career change by ending her association with Patrick Mouratoglou after 10 months of working together. The former coach of Serena Williams, Simona Halep, and Holger Rune had been chosen by the Japanese player to give a new impulse to her career in 2025, in search of returning to the top of the ranking. However, the results have not been the best – despite showing clear improvements in her level on both clay and grass courts, she hasn't achieved great runs this season.

Osaka decided to play lower-tier tournaments again and participated in the WTA 125 Saint-Malo in preparation for Roland Garros, winning the title. She also reached the final of the WTA 250 Auckland, although in the Grand Slams, she didn't quite convince, reaching the third round at the Australian Open and Wimbledon, and falling in the first round of the French Open.

The four-time major champion has a 23-11 record, but only reaches No. 48 in the WTA Race. For this reason, she decided to hire Tomasz Wiktorowski – former coach of Iga Swiatek and Agnieszka Radwanska – to seek a new impulse. Osaka announced that the Polish coach would be on trial this week at the Canadian Open, and it remains to be seen whether they will maintain their relationship in the coming weeks or if they might decide on a long-term association.