Naomi Osaka has just been through to the Montreal third round and it came after a major comeback pulled off by the Japanese, who defeated No. 13 seed Liudmila Samsonova 4-6 7-6 (6) 6-3 in just over two hours and 30 minutes of play.
In the very first game of the match, Samsonova claimed a break. That was enough for the Russian to seal the first set, who routinely held on to her serve for the rest of the opener.
After losing the opening set, it went from bad to worse for Osaka, who dropped her serve early on in the second set and found herself 3-5 down. With Samsonova serving for the match and having three consecutive match points in the 10th game, the former world No. 1 saved all three match points - forced a tie-break - in which she was 2-5 down before winning six of the next seven points and sending the match into a decider.
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Osaka's strong play continued at the start of the third set, when she broke Samsonova in the first and fifth games to go 4-1 up. While the Russian managed to get one break back in the sixth game, the Japanese remained unfazed and broke her rival once again in the ninth game to complete her major comeback win.
Who is Osaka's next rival?
For a place in the Montreal quarterfinal, Osaka will meet either No. 22 seed Jelena Ostapenko or Renata Zarazua.
If the 27-year-old Japanese wins her next match, she will reach the quarterfinal at the Canadian Open for only the second time in her career.
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It should be noted that just before coming to Montreal, the four-time Grand Slam champion split with Patrick Mouratoglou and hired Iga Swiatek's former long-time coach Tomasz Wiktorowski.
