Tennis-Sabalenka downs Osaka to reach French Open quarter-finals

By Julien Pretot

PARIS, June 1 (Reuters) – Aryna Sabalenka continued her relentless charge towards a maiden French Open crown as she overcame the resistance of Naomi Osaka 7-5 6-3 on Monday 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.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot, editing by Pritha Sarkar)