French Open: Aryna Sabalenka rolls past Naomi Osaka again to reach Roland Garros quarterfinals

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Aryna Sabalenka’s run over Naomi Osaka continues. 

The top-ranked tennis player in the world had little issue closing Osaka out in their fourth-round match at the French Open on Monday night. Sabalenka cruised past Osaka 7-5, 6-3 in straight sets at the Philippe-Chatrier Court in Paris. That secured her spot in the quarterfinals, where she’ll take on No. 25 Diana Shnaider of Russia next on Wednesday.

The match was just the fifth women’s match featured in a night session in French Open history, and the first since 2023. 

While things were tight early, Sabalenka erupted at the end of the first set. She won three straight games to rally out of a 5-4 hole, and scored seven straight points to pick up the 7-5 win. The early momentum that Osaka was working with — she won the first two games of the night, and seemed just a step ahead early on — was long gone. 

The second set was very similar. After Osaka picked up a few games early, Sabalenka picked up steam near the end and cruised to the 6-3 win without much issue. Sabalenka averaged 108 miles per hour with her serve throughout the match while claiming 39 winners and winning four of a possible five break points.

This was already Osaka’s deepest French Open run of her career. She made it to the fourth round after a three-set battle with 18-year-old American Iva Jović on Saturday. Osaka hadn’t been past the second round of the tournament since 2019, either. 

But Sabalenka has now beaten Osaka three times this season in what’s been a dominant outing between the two tennis stars that followed an eight-year gap between their first meeting in 2018 and their second earlier this season. Sabalenka got Osaka at both the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells and at the Madrid Open in April. 

Sabalenka reached the French Open final last season, too, but she ended up falling to Coco Gauff in the championship match. She’s reached the final match in eight of her last 12 grand slam appearances, too, including at the Australian Open earlier this year. She’s won the US Open in back-to-back seasons.

Clearly, Sabalenka is still playing as good of tennis as ever amid what’s been a dominant run throughout the sport for her. With Osaka now behind her, Sabalenka can keep moving forward on her quest for a first ever Roland Garros title.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.