Top seed Naomi Osaka advanced to the third round of the French Open on Thursday after recovering from a set and break down to beat Victoria Azarenka 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 in a thrilling encounter.
Much like her come-from-behind win in the first round over Anna Karolina Schmiedlova, Osaka started slowly and found herself 1-5 down in the first set, and while she did earn one break back, it was too little too late from the world No 1.
Osaka then fell behind 2-4 in the second set as former world No 1 Azarenka produced the sort of tennis that once propelled her to the top of the rankings.
However, after a marathon eighth game, Osaka pulled herself level at 4-4, before winning the set at the fourth opportunity.
That seemed to simultaneously provide a boost for Osaka and deflate Azarenka, as the 21-year-old Japanese player stormed into a 5-1 lead in the decider.
Azarenka displayed all her fighting qualities to earn one break back, forcing the pressure back on Osaka to serve out the match.
Azarenka was extremely unfortunate not to level at 5-5 when Osaka's second serve while trailing 30-40 was not called out. As it was, Osaka clinched the win on her first match point.
"I was lucky to have played her twice before. I knew she had been playing well coming into the tournament," said Osaka.
"It was an unfortunate second round for me so I am happy to win."
Osaka finished the two-hour 50-minute encounter on Court Suzanne Lenglen with 52 winners and 43 unforced errors. She next faces either Greek 29th seed Maria Sakkari or Czech world No 42 Katerina Siniakova in the third round.
Teenagers cruise into third round
Seventeen-year-olds Amanda Anisimova and Iga Swiatek both romped into the third round with comprehensive victories over seeded players to firmly mark themselves out as future stars.
The United States' Anisimova followed up her shock Australian Open third-round victory over Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka by dismantling the 11th seed again, 6-4, 6-2.
Polish hope Swiatek, who turns 18 on Friday, thrashed Chinese 16th seed Wang Qiang 6-3, 6-0 in under an hour to reach the last 32 of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
World No 51 Anisimova has seen her section of the draw open up to the extent that she cannot even face a higher-ranked player than her until at least the quarter-finals.
"I'd never passed a round at the French Open, so obviously it's super special. It feels great," she said.
Anisimova is the youngest American woman to get this far at Roland Garros since 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams in 1999, and she revealed the three-time French Open winner helped her after a difficult recent defeat.
"She's done so much for the sport. She's a huge inspiration to me. I really look up to her. That's just great to be achieving stuff similar to her," Anisimova added.
"Actually when I had a tough loss at Miami Open, it was a really long match and I was super upset in the locker room, Serena actually came up to me and we shared a little bit of a chat. That was really nice of her, and I'll remember it forever."
