The race to the French Open quarterfinals continues Monday, with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka set for a high-stakes fourth-round meeting with resurgent Naomi Osaka.
In the men’s draw, fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and Frances Tiafoe are also in action as a disrupted tournament continues to deliver surprises, with several top contenders already eliminated.
The shake-up has left Roland Garros on course to crown two new singles champions in the same year for the first time in a decade.
After frequent criticism, French Open organizers have deviated from their norm of reserving the night session for men’s matches. Sabalenka and Osaka are the first women to play at Roland Garros at night since 2023.
Osaka and Sabalenka are both appearing in the French Open main draw for the ninth time.
Both have won the Australian Open and US Open twice, but neither has been able to capture the crown in Paris.
With defending champion Coco Gauff and four-time winner Iga Swiatek already knocked out, Sabalenka has a strong opportunity to break through this year. However, hard-court specialist Osaka’s rise on clay could derail the Belarusian’s plans.
Osaka, who last won a Grand Slam title in 2021, has never reached a WTA-level final on clay or grass. However, the 28-year-old has shown improved form on the surface this season, reaching the French Open fourth round for the first time.
When Osaka and Sabalenka met on clay for the first time in Madrid last month, Osaka took a set in a tiebreak before Sabalenka came back to win the match.
“I feel like I played a pretty good match in Madrid, so hopefully I can keep the consistency and keep trying to be aggressive,” Osaka said ahead of facing Sabalenka.
World No. 6 Auger-Aliassime has never gone beyond the fourth round at the French Open, and his uncertain form at Roland Garros has continued this year, with the Canadian dropping the first set in each round so far.
However, the 25-year-old has shown his ability to respond under pressure, producing comeback wins, particularly in his third-round match against Brandon Nakashima, where he held his nerve to win two tiebreaks after the match was briefly interrupted by crowd celebrations following Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League victory.
The Paris crowd, however, had less to celebrate when Chile’s Tabilo defeated local favorite Moise Kouame to reach the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Ranked 36th in the world, Tabilo turned heads when he reached the Italian Open semifinals in 2024, beating Novak Djokovic along the way. But the 28-year-old has struggled for consistency since.
“I think the doubts come out more in the key moments. It’s been harder to start matches. I come in doubting myself,” Tabilo told the Clay website last year.
Still, he says Paris has often brought out his best tennis.
“In Paris, I finished without pain and with good sensations. This tournament made me feel very comfortable physically and with my tennis,” Tabilo added.
Four-hour battles tested both Frances Tiafoe and Matteo Arnaldi in their third-round matches.
Tiafoe got into a verbal exchange with opponent Jaime Faria as the 19th seed fought back from two sets down to clinch victory in a tense contest.
“Why don’t you quit trying to act like you’re tough? You’re not hard, bro. Just play,” Tiafoe told Faria before the chair umpire intervened.
Tiafoe produced a similar comeback against Arnaldi at Wimbledon in 2024, when the two players battled through a tightly contested match.
But world No. 104 Arnaldi has also thrived in long matches, with his third-round meeting against Raphael Collignon lasting nearly five hours before the Italian prevailed in a tiebreak.
“It was a battle, a fierce fight. When you get to the fifth-set tiebreak, it’s hard to talk about tennis. At that point, it’s about emotions and who can manage them better,” Arnaldi said.
“I hope to recover and be 100% against Frances Tiafoe.”
French Open order of play on Monday (seeding in parentheses)
