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Sabalenka downs Osaka, Berrettini into French Open quarters

football01 June 2026 20:09| © AFP
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© Aryna Sabalenka © Getty Images

World number one Aryna Sabalenka took down fellow four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka in straight sets in Monday's night-session match to reach the French Open quarterfinals.

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Sabalenka produced an impressive display against a battling Osaka to win 7-5, 6-3 and reach the last eight for a 14th consecutive major tournament.

The Belarusian is now the only Grand Slam champion left in either the men's or women's singles draws at Roland Garros.

"I'm mostly happy with the way I served and I was able to keep all the pressure on her," said Sabalenka.

"I didn't expect I would serve that great... I feel like I'm getting better and better with every match I play and overall I'm super happy with how I played today."

She made it three straight wins against Osaka this year, having lost their only previous meeting at the 2018 US Open.

Sabalenka will next take on Russian Diana Shnaider as she continues her bid for a maiden French Open crown and to banish the memories of her painful final defeat last year by Coco Gauff.

Japanese star Osaka, again sporting the sequined gold dress she likened to the Eiffel Tower at night, has to make do with her best ever run in Paris ending in the last 16.

It was the first women's match to feature in the French Open night session since 2023, after a run of 32 consecutive men's ties which drew repeated criticism of tournament organisers.

Russia's Shnaider earlier beat Madison Keys 6-3, 3-6, 6-0.

Austrian 28th seed Anastasia Potapova could not back up her win over defending champion Gauff, twice failing to serve for the match in a 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10/7) defeat by Kalinskaya.

The Russian will next face Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska after she continued her remarkable run by cruising past the last remaining French player, Diane Parry, 6-3, 6-2.

"She's one of the top players in the world. No one knows me, to be honest, so definitely a very challenging one, like every match here," said Chwalinska of facing Kalinskaya.

There was something for the Paris crowd to cheer after Parry's defeat, though, as Paris Saint-Germain players Ousmane Dembele, Desire Doue, Warren Zaire-Emery and Bradley Barcola paraded their two Champions League trophies on court after securing a second straight title on Saturday.

BRILLIANT BERRETTINI MARCHES ON

Former Wimbledon runner-up Berrettini, who has been plagued by injuries in recent years, booked his first major quarterfinal since the 2022 US Open with a 6-3, 7-6 (7/2), 7-6 (8/6) win over Jannik Sinner's conqueror Juan Manuel Cerundolo.

The world number 105 is the lowest-ranked player to reach the Roland Garros men's last eight since Igor Andreev in 2007.

"This (tennis) is the love of my life, I guess, otherwise I wouldn't keep coming back after all the setbacks, the injuries," said the Italian, playing at Roland Garros for the first time since 2021.

"There were moments it was really tough to come back and hit a ball... But now I'm back and it's thanks to them (his team), my character and my resilience."

Berrettini is one of only two Grand Slam finalists left in a wide-open men's draw, alongside Alexander Zverev, after surprise early exits for Sinner and Novak Djokovic.

The 30-year-old will next face either American 19th seed Frances Tiafoe or fellow Italian Matteo Arnaldi on Wednesday.

Italian 10th seed Flavio Cobolli overcame some late nerves to beat Zachary Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 7-6 (7/5) on Court Philippe Chatrier.

Cobolli wobbled badly from 4-0 and 5-1 up in the fourth set, before finally getting over the line in a tie-break to reach his second Grand Slam quarter-final after Wimbledon last year.

"The match is never done and today I almost shit in my pants," said Cobolli. "I'm happy but I'm still nervous."

The 24-year-old will battle fourth-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime for a semifinal berth.

World number six Auger-Aliassime is the highest-ranked player left in the top half of the men's draw and he laid down a marker with a dominant 6-3, 7-5, 6-1 success against Chile's Alejandro Tabilo.

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