Stars collided on a murky day in Paris.
A blazing Amanda Anisimova shoved Naomi Osaka out of the field for the second straight Slam.
Anisimova banged a backhand off the sideline sealing a 7-5, 6-4 sweep of former world No. 1 Osaka in style to advance to the Roland Garros second round.
It is Anisimova’s second major conquest of Osaka this year.
Anisimova fought off two match points stunning Osaka in a thrilling 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) triumph at the Australian Open in January.
In today’s rematch, the 2019 Roland Garros semifinalist ripped the ball down both lines with ambition. Anisimova more than doubled Osaka’s winner output—27 to 13—out-aced one of tennis’ most imposing servers (5 to 4) and broke serve four times in a tidy 90-minute triumph.
The victory vaults the 20-year-old American into the second round against Croatian Donna Vekic. The winner of the Anisimova-Vekic match will face either fourth-seeded Maria Sakkari or 2021 Australian Open semifinalist Karolina Muchova.
Unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since the 2018 Australian Open, Osaka couldn’t crack the American’s serve in the second set. Anisimova stamped eight straight holds defeating the world No. 38 for the second time in as many meetings.
Former French Open girls’ finalist Anisimova took the court with a 10-3 clay-court record on the season, while Osaka, who was forced out of Rome with an Achilles injury she sustained in Madrid, was playing just her third match on dirt this season.
That dirt disparity was most evident when things got tight. From love-30 down, Anisimova reeled off four points in a row pumping a running forehand winner to even after eight games.
Deadlocked at 5-all, Osaka fought off three break points, including zapping an ace off the T on the second. The four-time Grand Slam champion succumbed to the pressure tripping a double-fault off the tape as Anisimova broke for 6-5.
Swinging freely, Anisimova cranked a crosscourt forehand capping the 46-minute opener with the first love hold of the day.
The Japanese’s lack of recent match play proved costly in the seventh game of set two.
The 28th-seeded Anisimova broke a string, but managed to keep some slice shots in play despite the ruptured string bed. Osaka had Anisimova in trouble, but failed to capitalize slapping a forehand into net. In a sloppy two double-fault game, Osaka double-faulted off the tape handing the 2019 semifinalist the break and a 4-3 lead.
Anisimova battled back from triple break point down to back up the break. The American lasered her fifth ace down the T for game point and lashed a forehand inside the sideline consolidating for 5-3.
A light rain was falling as Anisimova served for the match. Anisimova fired a forehand winner down the line for triple match point.
Netting a pair of errors, Anisimova blasted a backhand down the line off the sideline and broke into a wide smile with a confident straight-sets win.