Sabalenka Defeats Osaka 7-5, 6-3 in Roland Garros' First Women's Night Match in Three Years

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3 on Monday to reach the French Open quarterfinals. The match was the first women's night match at Roland Garros in three years. Sabalenka improved to 3-1 against Osaka in her career.

Osaka was appearing in the fourth round at Roland Garros for the first time. Sabalenka won the match in 1 hour and 27 minutes. Osaka entered the court wearing a golden bomber jacket over her gold sequin playing dress, trailing a tiered train with puffs of tulle.

Sabalenka wore a slightly sheer black flared tennis dress with a red underlayer and diamond necklaces. Sabalenka overpowered Osaka from the baseline and produced a forehand return winner on her first match point. She said after the match that the atmosphere and attention would show organizers they should consider scheduling women's matches at night more often.

Sabalenka's quarterfinal opponent will be Diana Shnaider, who defeated Madison Keys 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. Keys was the last American woman remaining in the draw. Diane Parry lost to Maja Chwalinska 6-3, 6-2.

Chwalinska, ranked 114th, had never advanced beyond the second round of a major tournament before this event and reached the quarterfinals after winning three qualifying matches. Her next opponent will be Anna Kalinskaya. Kalinskaya defeated Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (10-7).

Kalinskaya said she would not have believed two weeks earlier that she would reach the quarterfinals. Tournament organizers had faced criticism for scheduling few women's matches at night. Officials stated that best-of-three set matches do not provide enough time for television broadcasters, while men's matches are best-of-five sets.