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World number one Aryna Sabalenka took down fellow four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in straight sets in Monday’s night-session match to reach the French Open quarter-finals.
Sabalenka produced an impressive display, hitting 39 winners and 12 aces, against a battling Osaka to win 7-5, 6-3 and reach the last eight for a 14th consecutive major tournament.
The Belarusian is the only Grand Slam champion left in either the men’s or women’s singles draws at Roland Garros.
She made it three straight wins against Osaka this year, having lost their only previous meeting at the 2018 US Open.
Sabalenka will next take on Russian Diana Shnaider as she continues her bid for a maiden French Open crown and to banish the memories of her painful final defeat last year by Coco Gauff.
Japanese star Osaka, again sporting the sequined gold dress she likened to the Eiffel Tower at night, has to make do with her best-ever run in Paris, ending in the last 16.
It was the first women’s match to feature in the French Open night session since 2023, after a run of 32 consecutive men’s ties which drew repeated criticism of tournament organisers.
Aryna Sabalenka has previously criticised the lack of women’s matches under the lights, saying last year that the WTA stars “deserve equal treatment” to the men.
“I hope that this is the beginning, today’s match. It’s like we open up that door for woman night sessions,” she said Monday.
The players traded early breaks in a power-packed opening, before Sabalenka levelled the first set at 2-2 with a service hold featuring three aces, the last with a second serve.
The set stayed on serve until the 11th game, when Sabalenka made her move with a blistering backhand winner to bring up two break points, with Osaka netting on the first.
The top seed closed it out in style with a ruthless hold to love.
Osaka gamely managed to hang onto her serve early in the second set, staving off a break point in a marathon game to lead 3-2.
Sabalenka had only dropped six points in her previous seven service games, but was pushed hard by Osaka in game six before eventually holding with a clever drop-shot.
That proved to be a crucial moment, as Osaka’s resistance was finally broken in the next game, a brilliant low volley at the net helping Sabalenka put one foot into the quarters.
An Osaka double-fault brought up match point two games later, and Sabalenka sealed victory with a brutal return.
