Aryna Sabalenka cruised past Naomi Osaka in straight sets in their fourth round clash under the lights in Paris to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open.
In the first women’s night-session match at Roland-Garros in three years, Osaka entered the court again wearing a golden, sequined bomber jacket which has become her trademark this tournament, but she failed to find a spark with her tennis.
Sabalenka, who has now reached at least the quarter-finals in her last 14 Grand Slam appearances, set up a last-eight meeting with 25th seed Diana Shnaider as she recovered from a shaky start to triumph 7-5 6-3.
“She is such a great player, she plays a super aggressive tennis,” Sabalenka said of Osaka. “I’m happy with how I was able to put back the pressure on her. It’s amazing to play the night session in front of all of you guys.
“I’m super happy with my serve. I’m super pleased overall with the performance today.”
Osaka opened a 2-0 lead courtesy of a Sabalenka double fault but the world No 1 immediately broke back and stole her opponent’s serve decisively for a 6-5 lead, whipping a powerful service return that the 16th seed could not control, her backhand failing to clear the net.
Following a tough hold for 3-3 in the second set, Sabalenka broke for 4-3, ending a long rally with a subtle half volley.
Osaka, who was playing in the fourth round at Roland-Garros for the first time, did not have more in the tank and she lost the remaining games, bowing out on Sabalenka’s first match point as proceedings wrapped inside an hour and 27 minutes.
