World No.1 withstands late fightback from Kasatkina on Lenglen.
Aryna Sabalenka has set a blockbuster last-16 showdown against fellow four-time major champion Naomi Osaka after seeing off a late threat from Daria Kasatkina at Roland-Garros on Saturday - the No.1 seed's 100th win at the top of the WTA rankings.
The onslaught was relentless early on from Sabalenka before the Australian found her groove with her back to the wall to give the world No.1 a second-set scare in a 6-0, 7-5 result.
“Definitely a great week," Sabalenka said. "Happy to be in the second week. Happy with the level I played, with the fight that she brought, and I could handle it and could close the match in straight sets.”
Last year’s finalist suffered earlier-than-expected losses to Hailey Baptiste in Madrid and Sorana Cirstea in Rome in the lead-up but has looked increasingly sharp with each round in her ninth campaign in Paris.
She settled into the hot, dry conditions on Court Suzanne-Lenglen sooner, drawing on her greater firepower to keep the former world No.8 scrambling and at a loss as to how to steady the ship through the first half hour.
In a dominant first set on serve and off the ground, she fearlessly closed at net, flexing an improved versatility that she and her team have developed in recent years.
In a near flawless opening set, Sabalenka won 91 per cent of first-serve points, never faced a break point and thumped 16 winners to just four unforced errors.
It was the first bagel set she had dished out in Paris since beating Kasatkina in the second round six years ago.
On the brink of a top-50 return following 11 wins on clay from her past 13 matches – including a title at the WTA125 event in La Bisbal – Kasatkina had to shake things up.
Tapping into her all-court nous, she opened up the court to bring up her first break point and capitalised on a wild backhand error from the top seed to convert in the opening game of the second set.
The 29-year-old threatened to send the match to a decider at 0-30 on the top seed’s serve at 5-all before Sabalenka steamrolled through eight of the last nine points for her 100th victory as world No.1 – a feat only eight women before her had accomplished since WTA rankings began.
“I have goosebumps. It means the world, it means a lot,” she said of the milestone. “I'm just happy that in those tough moments I stayed tough. I was fighting, I never gave up, and that's where it brought me. I'm super proud of myself, of my team, of course, that we've been able to reach an amazing level almost like it feels impossible, but super proud of that.”
Sabalenka – who improved her head-to-head to 8-2 against Kasatkina – appreciated being pushed in the first week of a Slam, but in such conditions would happily have taken a more routine path to the fourth round.
“I don't know. I like it both, you know. Also good to be tested, like to feel the fight, you know, to activate this fight mode, to feel the pressure a little bit,” she said. “I feel like it's a good preparation for the second week.”
A fourth showdown against former No.1 Osaka looms. Having fallen to the Japanese star at the US Open eight years ago, Sabalenka has claimed both encounters this season.
The most recent, in the fourth round in Madrid, went the distance before Sabalenka pulled clear.
“I feel like the last one in Madrid was a really tight match, was great level,” she said. “She really stepped in and raised her level in the last match.
“I'm just ready for the fight. I'm ready to go out there to fight for that match, for that win. Ready to do anything it takes to get the win.”
ROLAND-GARROS
18 May - 7 June 2026
