Osorio making up for lost time

The women's qualifying event is brimming with quality, exemplified by Camila Osorio spearheading the draw.

With a trademark cheek-to-cheek smile, the Colombian is always emitting pure joy.

On Monday the smile was beaming as she posted a 6-4, 6-3 scoreline against Cypriot Raluka Serban that sent the former world No.33 through to a second-round clash with Bulgarian veteran Sesil Karatantcheva.

"I think my variety helped me, I was hitting a lot of drop shots," the 21-year-old said. 

"I've been working for these results. When you win matches in qualies, like Rome, you know you deserve to be there. I managed to stay calm and control my emotions."

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There were plenty of emotions in the past fortnight for Osorio while compiling a maiden venture into a WTA 1000 fourth round in Rome.

Making it from qualifying to the last 16, Osorio put together one impressive performance after the other including a 6-4, 6-4 upset of Caroline Garcia to notch a first top-five triumph. Already a fan favourite thanks to her fiery attitude on court and bubbly personality off it, Osorio earned another legion of fans in the Italian capital.

"It was unreal. I was just trying to maybe get some matches and then all of a sudden I started playing better and better," Osorio told rolandgarros.com.

"I saved two match points in the first round and after that, I was like, 'Okay, go for it, trust yourself'. I beat (Petra) Martic, she's a great player. Then Garcia, she beat me 6-2, 6-2 in Lyon (in February). So it was amazing, the whole experience.

"It reminded me what I can do, I want to keep doing better and why not?"

A leg injury sidelined the world No.84 for most of March and April, denying her a shot to compete on home soil in Bogota as well as the 'Sunshine Swing' stateside. Osorio reset and optimised her time away from the cauldron of competition.

"It felt like another preseason to get a little bit stronger. I feel more confident on the court," Osorio said.

"It was tough to miss Bogota, but you start to trust all that work you've been putting in, all my life of course, but even harder in the last couple of months."

Results weren't going in her favour and she briefly dropped outside the top 100 this season, but the 21-year-old relied on her extensive work with a sports psychologist she hired last December to get back on track.

"It doesn't matter, you got to start from zero again, got to believe you can do it. You can’t just think in points, got to believe in your actual tennis," explained the Colombian.

"I know everyone says it, but you have to trust the process.

"I was talking with my psychologist about this, she's helped me stay calm, helped me a lot on and off the court."

The former junior world No.1 and 2019 US Open girls' champion has featured in all four Grand Slams at the professional level. Now she was keen to build on her experience and replicate her recent Rome form.

Evolving, personal development, keeping a positive perspective are all keys for Osorio.

"I'd say I'm more mature, well on the court," joked Osorio, breaking into laughter. "Winning, losing, struggling, that's how you learn, and it helps you in life.

"I'm definitely a little bit more independent, in matches you're on your own, having to make decisions. I changed my team, so off the court I've been learning a lot from a lot of people, getting great advice in recent years.

"That's helped me grow as a person, as a player. I hope to keep learning, that's life."

Elsewhere, in her first Grand Slam qualifying contest, French wild card Margaux Rouvroy stunned 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin 6-4, 6-3. 

German youngster Noma Noha Akugue escaped 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in a mammoth three-hour, 13-minute tussle with home charge Emma Lene.

No.3 seed Arantxa Rus enjoyed a straight-sets passage past France's Audrey Albie, while fellow seeds Elizabeth Mandlik, Simona Waltert and Greet Minnen all cleared the first hurdle.