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Supreme Sabalenka too strong for Osaka

Impressive 7-5, 6-3 win keeps world No.1 on course for first Paris title

Aryna Sabalenka / Huitièmes de finale - Roland-Garros 2026
©Cédric Lecocq / FFT
 - Victoria Chiesa

When Aryna Sabalenka faced Naomi Osaka for the first time in eight years in March in Indian Wells, she said that she hoped that the two Grand Slam champions would play "many more times" after a tight two-set win.

Three times in three months might've been beyond Sabalenka's expectations. But the frequency of such a marquee match-up will likely matter little to the world No.1, as long as she keeps winning them.

The top seed at Roland-Garros completed the roster of women's quarterfinalists with her third win against Osaka this year - a high-quality 7-5, 6-3 tilt on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Monday night.

I am mostly happy with the way I served, and that I was able to put that pressure back on her

A nervy start by Sabalenka - she trailed 2-0 - gave way to a fantastic finish in just under an hour-and-a-half. She never faced a break point for the rest of the match, and struck 12 aces and 39 winners. It was a level of play necessary to top a game four-time Grand Slam champion in Osaka, who hit 20 winners and just 18 unforced errors in a high-quality performance of her own. 

Sabalenka knew it, too, saying afterwards in her on-court interview that she's been getting better with every match she's playing in Paris. 

"I am mostly happy with the way I served, and that I was able to put that pressure back on her," she said, hailing Osaka as a "great player" and referring to their "super-aggressive" tennis.

But the true key to edging Osaka might not have been Sabalenka’s power game, but her willingness to move forward and mix things up. She left Osaka frozen with five clean drop shot winners in the contest, and won 10 of 11 points when she came to the net. It left Osaka tipping her cap.

"All of the people I have played this tournament have hit drop shots," she said. "Obviously she's the hardest-hitting one. Like, when she hits a drop shot, it works better, I think, because she obviously could hit a winner too if she wanted to."

Expecting the unexpected, like a Sabalenka drop shot, has been a theme of this Roland-Garros so far. Top names in both draws have tumbled out in the first four rounds at a rate not seen in the tournament in many years, and Sabalenka is the only player left in the women's draw who's played in a major final.

But she says that she's only focused on what she needs to do to lift the Coupe Suzanne-Lenglen for the first time. 

"I'm not really overthinking, I was able to separate myself from what's going on this year at Roland Garros," she said. "I have been around. Anything can happen. That's tennis. That's sport, you know? 

"I'm just trying once again to be focused on myself and make sure that when I'm there competing I'm bringing my best level that I have, and I'm there, I'm fighting, and I'm doing everything I can to get this trophy.”