Tennis-Jabeur overcomes Osorio scare to move into French Open third round

Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 29, 2024 Tunisia's Ons Jabeur celebrates after winning her second round match against Colombia's Camila Osorio REUTERS/Yves Herman

PARIS (Reuters) -Tunisia's Ons Jabeur beat Colombia's Camila Osorio 6-3 1-6 6-3 in a roller-coaster match in humid conditions under the roof on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to move into the third round of the French Open on Wednesday.

Jabeur hardly put a foot wrong in the opening set but she allowed Osorio to get back into the match with a poor second-set performance before raising her intensity in the third to secure the win.

"Obviously tough conditions for me. I don't like when the ball gets too heavy. I didn't know how to manage much in the second set but I'm glad I turned it back in the third one," Jabeur told reporters.

"I was trying to be more aggressive. Obviously when the balls are new, it's even better for me. I felt like it was a bit humid inside that court... I would say, a lot humid."

Jabeur combined power and finesse in the opening set to put Osorio on the back foot, with some of her shots carrying an air of nonchalance as she made the Colombian run to all corners of the court.

The Tunisian sealed the first set in style with a powerful winner at the net but a fall in the second set upset her rhythm and allowed Osorio to claw her way back into the contest.

Although Jabeur picked herself up and dusted off the red Parisian dirt with a towel, she made several unforced errors as the Colombian broke twice and took a 5-1 lead.

Osorio forced a decider when a return from the Tunisian went wide -- her 15th unforced error of the second set -- and she took a set off the eighth seed for the first time in three meetings.

Both players struggled on serve in the decider which had five break points converted, but it was Jabeur who raised her intensity towards the end and also used her drop shot to good effect.

Jabeur took a 4-1 lead as Osorio struggled with her returns, before wrapping up the match with 31 winners.

"It's always the state of mind. We have to adjust to conditions. It's completely different to play on Chatrier or on Suzanne-Lenglen," Jabeur added.

"I'm very lucky to play on one of these courts because rain doesn't help. But I'm glad that I could adjust my game.

"Physically it was a bit different. It was a bit heavier in terms of conditions. I'm glad that the third set turned out much better than the second set."

(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru;Editing by Christian Radnedge and Clare Fallon)