Tennis world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka turned sour grapes into a fine wine at the 2026 French Open on Monday (1 June), overcoming an early dropped set to see off Japanese superstar Naomi Osaka in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3, during their fourth-round clash at Roland-Garros.
The 28-year-old from Minsk began the match on the back foot, gifting her golden-clad opponent the first break point of the match through one of only three double-faults she produced during one hour and 27 minutes of play on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
While that error provided Osaka with a handy lead, it also seemed to awaken something deep within the hard-court specialist, triggering a near-immediate reversal of momentum in the first set, as Sabalenka broke back to breathe life into the match.
With Osaka returning the favour in kind on the next game, the first set entered a sort of stasis, as both players produced some top-notch tennis. Osaka still held the lead at 5-4, but pressure applied by Sabalenka became too much. She gave up another break, evening the score at 5-5.
From there, the Belarussian star embraced the energy of the crowd. She capitalised on this second chance to save the set, winning two games back-to-back to assert her presence on both the court and the clay.
The two four-time Grand Slam singles champions remained locked in a thrilling duel halfway through the second set, with Sabalenka holding control of the net. Try as she might, Osaka just couldn’t find a way to break the world No. 1 as she had earlier in the match.
By now, Sabalenka’s play was buoyed by a remarkable 12 aces, which helped secure a demonstrative break point at 5-3, before she closed out the match with a stinger of a forehand at 6-3.
“I didn’t expect that I would be serving that great,” said a shocked Sabalenka after the match. “It’s probably not the service game that I’ve ever played in my life, but in this tournament, for sure, I feel like I’m getting better and better with every match I’m playing.”
Reflecting on the standard of play in what could only be described as a heavyweight tussle, Sabalenka tipped her cap to Osaka: “She’s such a tough player, always great battles against her, super aggressive tennis.
“I’m mostly happy with the way I served and the way I was able to put all the pressure on her. I’m very happy with the win.”
She’d be wise to suppress the adrenaline and limit celebrations, with a quarter-final clash against No. 25 seed Diana Schnaider next on the schedule at Roland-Garros.
AloJapan.com