Day 9 Under the lights: fire and ice

The form book suggests this should be Sabalenka’s night. She has won two of their three previous matches (both this year), most recently in Madrid a month ago. There, after dropping the first set on a tiebreak, she went on to control the next two but still she feels like it was a tight struggle. When it comes to her one loss to the Japanese, that was back in 2018, long before Sabalenka had evolved into a serial Grand Slam champion and the dominant force in the rankings.

There are also their Roland-Garros records to consider. Sabalenka was a finalist last year; Osaka is in her first fourth round. But, then again, this is the start of the second week of a Grand Slam and as the trophy slowly comes into focus, the form book becomes less relevant. With so much at stake, everyone is ready to play the match of their lives.

For the world No.1, she feels she is ready for anything. Daria Kasatkina gave her a 6-0, 7-5 workout in the previous round and that second set was just enough to light the competitive flame in Sabalenka.

“It’s good to be tested,” she said. “Like to feel the fight, you know, to activate this fight mode, to feel the pressure a little bit. I feel like it's a good preparation for the second week.”

As for the challenge that Osaka will present, she is ready for that, too.

“I feel like the last match in Madrid was, really tight match, was great level,” Sabalenka 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.”

Osaka is taking a slightly more chilled approach to Monday's match. She will fight tooth and nail, sure enough, but clay is not her natural surface and she is telling herself not to get too stressed if things do not go exactly according to plan.

“I just thought to myself, I don't have to win every single point,” she said, “but I just have to try every single point, and hopefully it goes in my favour. That's basically it.”

It is, more or less, what her coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, has been drumming into her for the clay court season.

“With Tomasz, it's not like he gives me clay-specific advice,” she said. “He doesn't come in with a rule book on clay. He kind of just tells me more about my game and what he would prefer me to do.”

The match in a nutshell, then, is the fire against the ice. Let battle commence.