Sabalenka cruises past Kasatkina to extend her round-of-16 streak, sets up a Roland-Garros meeting with Osaka one month after their Madrid clash

Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 1 and top seed, beat Australia’s Daria Kasatkina 6-0, 7-5 on Saturday afternoon to reach the round of 16 at Roland-Garros for the fourth consecutive year, and to extend her streak of consecutive Grand Slam round-of-16 appearances to seven.

The reward is a fourth-round meeting against 16th seed Naomi Osaka – a contest the two played a month ago in Madrid, on clay, with Sabalenka winning in three sets.

You might also like this

Osaka reaches the round of 16 at Roland-Garros for the first time, first second week on a non-hard-court Slam

tennis majors

Aryna Sabalenka powers past Naomi Osaka into Indian Wells quarterfinals

tennis majors

The contest with Kasatkina was a 6-0 first set in 22 minutes, then a tighter second set the Australian made the Belarusian work to close. Sabalenka served at 5-4 to take the match and was held to deuce. She broke for 6-5, served it out, and produced the kind of dominant-but-not-perfect first-week result that has been the texture of her 2026: 30 wins, three losses across the season, and a third Roland-Garros campaign in which the early rounds have all gone to script.

Osaka next

The round-of-16 meeting carries more storyline than the match-up itself might suggest. The two have met three times in their careers. Osaka won their first encounter at the 2018 US Open en route to her maiden Grand Slam title. Sabalenka has won the two since – both this year, both in seven weeks: Indian Wells in March on hard court, and the Madrid Open round of 16 on 27 April on clay.

The Madrid result was the only previous time the two had played each other on a surface other than hard, and Sabalenka took it 6-7, 6-3, 6-2. It is hard to say whether Świątek against Kostyuk or Sabalenka against Osaka is the more anticipated round of 16 on Sunday. What is easier to say is that, in a tournament in which the men’s draw has lost Jannik Sinner, Novak Djoković and Carlos Alcaraz, the women’s draw has held its top names where the matches matter.

Roland-Garros Women’s Singles – 3rd Round

A.Sabalenka (1) vs D.Kasatkina – 6-0, 7-5

N.Osaka (16) – I.Jovic (17): 7⁷-6⁵, 6³-7⁷, 6-4

V.Mboko (9) vs M.Keys (19) – UPCOMING

D.Shnaider (25) – O.Oliynykova: 7-5, 6-1

C.Gauff (4) vs A.Potapova (28) – UPCOMING

A.Kalinskaya (22) vs C.Osorio: 6-3, 0-6, 6-2

M.Chwalinska – M.Sakkari: 1-6, 6-3, 6-2

D.Parry – A.Anisimova (6): 6-3, 4-6, 7-6

E.Svitolina (7) – T.Korpatsch: 6-2, 6-3

B.Bencic (11) – P.Stearns: 6-3, 6-3

M.Kostyuk (15) – V.Golubic: 6-4, 6-3

I.Swiatek (3) – M.Linette: 6-4, 6-4

M.Andreeva (8) – M.Bouzkova (27): 6-4, 6-2

J.Teichmann – K.Muchova (10): 6-1, 7-5

S.Cirstea (18) – S.Sierra: 6-0, 6-0

X.Wang – Y.Starodubtseva: 6-3, 7-5

Women’s Singles – 4th Round (upcoming)

N.Osaka (16) vs Sabalenka (1)

D.Shnaider (25) vs (Mboko/Keys winner)

(Gauff/Potapova winner) vs Kalinskaya

M.Chwalinska vs (Parry/Anisimova winner)

E.Svitolina (7) vs B.Bencic (11)

M.Kostyuk (15) vs I.Swiatek (3)

M.Andreeva (8) vs J.Teichmann

S.Cirstea (18) vs X.Wang