Canadian Open: Naomi Osaka saves two match points and completes stunning comeback against Samsonova
Down 6-4, 5-4, 40-15, Naomi Osaka produced one of her grittiest wins in recent memory on Wednesday in Montreal, saving two match points and turning the tide to defeat Liudmila Samsonova in three sets (4-6, 7-6 [6], 6-3). A victory that could mark a turning point in her 2025 season.
Naomi Osaka Montreal 2025 – © Zuma / Psnewz
It’s the kind of match that can shift the course of a season. Facing the 13th seed Liudmila Samsonova for the third time this year — they were 1-1 in head-to-head meetings before this clash — Osaka dug deep to clinch a high-quality battle in 2 hours and 36 minutes.
At 6-4, 5-4, 40-15 on Samsonova’s serve, Osaka was on the verge of elimination. Struggling in most areas of her game, she leaned on her Grand Slam pedigree to save three match points and keep herself alive in the contest.
Tie-break comeback, dominant final set
Her comeback was only just beginning. Down 5-2 in the second-set tiebreak, Osaka reeled off a string of clean winners and clutch shots to steal it 8-6, flipping the momentum in dramatic fashion.
With confidence restored, the former world No.1 broke Samsonova twice early in the decider to jump ahead 4-1. Despite a brief dip in intensity, Osaka held her nerve and closed it out 6-3 for her biggest win since returning from maternity leave.
This is Osaka’s first victory over a Top 20 player in 2025 and could signal a breakthrough in her comeback campaign. The win comes as she’s trialing a new coaching partnership with Tomasz Wiktorowski — the former coach of Iga Swiatek — who is accompanying her this week in Montreal.
Osaka will next face the winner of Jelena Ostapenko vs. Renata Zarazua for a spot in the round of 16. With this mindset, anything suddenly feels possible again.
Montreal WTA 1000, other second-round results (IGA Stadium, hard, USD 5.152.599, most recent results first):
- Kamilla Rakhimova vs. Elina Svitolina
- Amanda Anisimova vs. Lulu Sun
- Belinda Bencic vs. Eugenie Bouchard
- Emma Raducanu vs. Peyton Stearns
- Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova vs. Eva Lys
- Antonia Ruzic vs. Karolina Muchova
- Yuliia Starodubtseva vs. Magdalena Frech
- Maria Sakkari vs. Jessica Pegula
- Elise Mertens vs. Anna Kalinskaya
- Hanyu Guo vs. Iga Swiatek
- Catherine McNally vs. Rebecca Sramkova
- Renata Zarazua vs. Jelena Ostapenko: wednesday
- Clara Tauson vs. Lucia Bronzetti: wednesday
- Madison Keys (6) beat Laura Siegemund (Q): 6-2, 6-1
- Anastasija Sevastova beat Magda Linette (25): 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
- McCartney Kessler (28) beat Maya Joint: 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
- Victoria Mboko (WC) beat Sofia Kenin (23): 6-2, 6-3
- Suzan Lamens beat Beatriz Haddad Maia (18): 6-2, 1-6, 6-3
- Coco Gauff (1) beat Danielle Collins: 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (2)
- Elena Rybakina (9) beat Hailey Baptiste: 6-4, 6-3
- Lin Zhu beat Ekaterina Alexandrova (12): 1-6, 6-2, 6-4
- Marie Bouzkova beat Diana Shnaider (14): 6-2, 7-6 (5)
- Jessica Bouzas Maneiro beat Ashlyn Krueger (26): 6-4, 6-4
- Veronika Kudermetova beat Olga Danilovic (29): 6-4, 6-2
- Aoi Ito (Q) beat Jasmine Paolini (7): 2-6, 7-5, 7-6 (5)
- Jaqueline Cristian beat Linda Noskova (20): 6-3, 6-4
- Mirra Andreeva (4) beat Bianca Andreescu (WC): W/O
- Marta Kostyuk (24) beat Marketa Vondrousova: 2-6, 6-3, 6-2
- Emma Navarro (8) beat Rebecca Marino (WC): 6-1, 6-2
- Dayana Yastremska (30) beat Camila Osorio: 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-2
- Daria Kasatkina (15) beat Anna Blinkova: 6-1, 6-4
