TENNIS – ARYNA Sabalenka continued her relentless charge towards a maiden French Open crown as she overcame the resistance of Naomi Osaka 7-5 6-3 yesterday to reach the quarter-finals.
In the first women’s night-session match at Roland Garros in three years, the Belarusian world number one recovered from a shaky start to reach the last eight.
Sabalenka, who has now reached at least the quarter-finals in her last 14 Grand Slam appearances, set up a last-eight meeting with Russian Diana Shnaider.
“She is such a great player, she plays a super aggressive tennis. 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,” Sabalenka said on court before showing off a ‘Moon Walk’ to the Philippe Chatrier crowd.
“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 Belarusian immediately broke back and stole her opponent’s serve decisively for 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, 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.
Russian 25th seed Shnaider stunned former Australian Open champion Madison Keys 6-3 3-6 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
Poland’s Maja Chwalinska moved into the last eight with a 6-3 6-2 straight-sets win over Frenchwoman Diane Parry. She will face Anna Kalinskaya next.
Kalinskaya overcame a mid-match blip to beat 28th seed Anastasia Potapova 6-4 2-6 7-6(10-7) and reach the Roland Garros quarter-finals for the first time.
In the men’s side, Canadian fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime booked his quarter-final spot with a three-set win over Alejandro Tabilo of Chile, 6-3 7-5 6-1. Auger-Aliassime will face 10th seed Flavio Cobolli next.
Italian Cobolli beat American Zachary Svajda 6-2 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(5) to reach the quarter-finals for the first time.
Italy’s Matteo Berrettini advanced past Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-3 7-6(2) 7-6(6) to reach the quarter-finals for the second time.
The 24-year-old Cobolli has reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the second time after last year’s run to the last eight at Wimbledon.
He was the only player left in the draw in Paris not to have dropped a set going into the fourth round.
Far more experienced on clay than his opponent ranked 85th in the world, Cobolli made sure of a solid start and an early break to take control of the first set. A second break landed him the set.
Svajda, making his French Open main draw debut, had only won one match on clay this season going into the tournament, and it showed with the Italian moving far better and the American struggling with a weak second serve.
&uuid=(email))