PARIS — After Naomi Osaka whipped a forehand well wide of the mark to put herself on the brink of being upset in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday, she spun toward her mother and her coach in the stands and flashed them a thumbs-up sign saturated with sarcasm. The errant shot had given Osaka’s opponent, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia, the opportunity to score a major upset on her upcoming service game. “Do you guys see this amazing tennis I’m playing right here?” Osaka said later, explaining the message behind her sardonic hand gesture to her team. “I don’t even know what I wanted them to do.”But it was clear what she wanted to do, and she did it. After breaking back in the next game and winning a second-set tiebreaker, the top-seeded Osaka overcame her nerves and negative emotions to defeat Schmiedlova, 0-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1, and avoid a crushing defeat.

Source: New York Times May 28, 2019 21:56 UTC