Aryna Sabalenka hopes French Open organisers have been persuaded to put more women’s matches on in the night session after her high-class performance to beat Naomi Osaka.
For the first time in three years and only the fifth time since the one-match night session was introduced in 2021, a women’s match was given centre stage, ending a sequence of 33 consecutive men’s contests.
Sabalenka’s fourth-round clash with four-time grand slam champion Osaka was one of the biggest matches of the tournament so far, but the Japanese star was outplayed in a 7-5 6-3 defeat lasting an hour and 27 minutes.
The victory means Sabalenka has reached at least the quarter-finals in her last 14 major tournaments and she has a first French Open title firmly in her sights.
“I think it’s really important that they put our match today as a night session,” said the top seed.
“I think that’s the right move. I think the atmosphere and the attention that this match brought is going to show them that probably for the future they should consider putting at least sometimes women matches at night.
“So I hope that this is the beginning. It’s like we open up that door for woman night sessions.”
Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo has repeatedly cited concerns over the length of women’s matches and giving value to ticket-holders as the primary reason for not scheduling them during the night session.
The Australian and US Opens both put two contests in their evening schedules but Roland Garros organisers do not want the sort of early morning play that often occurs at those events.
With the top half of the men’s draw devoid of its expected stars, though, not scheduling this match in prime-time would have been a kick in the teeth.
Speaking to reporters earlier on Monday, Mauresmo said: “I think this match is the best match of the day. Multiple grand slam winners, so it was, for us, obvious this should be the night session.”
Sabalenka was also involved in the last women’s night match, against Sloane Stephens in 2023 – although it was so long ago that she had forgotten the occasion.
Having not played each other since 2018 until March, this was the third meeting in less than three months between Osaka and Sabalenka.
The Belarusian had won both the previous ones and she was peerless here, sending down 12 aces, powering backhands into the corners and keeping Osaka guessing with her clever use of the drop shot.
Osaka did well to hang tough for a set and a half but her best French Open run was brought to an end.
She said of playing at night: “I thought it was really cool. Obviously she’s really good for tennis. I would hope I’m OK for tennis, too. It was really fun to play.”
The Japanese star insisted she did not feel any pressure to ensure the match lived up to the occasion, saying: “Obviously you don’t want to be beaten 6-0 6-0, but that’s anywhere on any court.
“If I was on court 27, I wouldn’t want to be beaten that fast either. Shout out to the tournament for trusting us. I hope it was entertaining for people.”
Sabalenka will next face Russia’s Diana Shnaider after she reached her first grand slam quarter-final with a 6-3 3-6 6-0 victory over former Australian Open champion Madison Keys.
A surprise last-eight clash will pit another Russian, 22nd seed Anna Kalinskaya, against Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska.
Kalinskaya matched her best major result by beating Coco Gauff’s conqueror Anastasia Potapova in a deciding tie-break, while Chwalinska ended French singles hopes with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Diane Parry.
Chwalinska revealed after her previous match that she was concerned about how to pay for her extended hotel stay but she is guaranteed a minimum of 470,000 euros (approximately £406,000) – almost quintupling her current career prize money.
