The headline result came under the lights: world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka beat fellow four-time major champion Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3 in the first women’s night-session match at Roland Garros in three years, recovering from a shaky start to pull away. It’s at least a quarterfinal in her last 14 Grand Slam appearances, and she’ll face 25th seed Diana Shnaider in the last eight.
The rest of the women’s draw filled out around her. Shnaider knocked out Madison Keys — the last American woman left — 6-3, 3-6, 6-0. Anna Kalinskaya beat Anastasia Potapova 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(10-7) to reach her first French Open quarterfinal, ending the run of the player who had ousted defending champion Coco Gauff in the third round. And the surprise of the day: 114th-ranked Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska beat France’s Diane Parry 6-3, 6-2 — Chwalinska had never been past the second round of a major and came through three rounds of qualifying. Parry was the last French player standing in singles. Kalinskaya faces Chwalinska in one quarter; Sabalenka–Shnaider is the other on that side.
On the men’s side, 10th seed Flavio Cobolli reached the second Grand Slam quarterfinal of his career — his first in Paris — beating American Zachary Svajda 6-2, 6-3, 6-7(3), 7-6(5). Felix Auger-Aliassime then beat Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets to make his first Roland Garros quarterfinal, becoming the first Canadian man to reach the last eight at all four Grand Slams. He’ll play Cobolli for a semifinal spot. Matteo Berrettini was also on today’s card against an Argentine Cerúndolo — reporting indicates he advanced to the quarters, but I’d confirm the scoreline and which Cerúndolo brother (Francisco or Juan Manuel) before you publish that one; sources conflict on the first name.
For context on why the draws look like this: Sunday’s upset of Iga ÅšwiÄ…tek by Marta Kostyuk guaranteed a first-time women’s French Open champion in 2026, and that came on top of an already chaotic fortnight — Jannik Sinner went out in a shocking second-round exit, Djokovic was beaten by João Fonseca, Alcaraz is absent injured, and Gauff is already gone. Zverev is the men’s favorite of what’s left.
One off-court note, since it was the day’s biggest tennis story overall even though it didn’t happen in Paris: Serena Williams announced she’s returning to pro tennis at 44, accepting a wild card to play doubles at Queen’s Club next week — worth a separate piece rather than folding into the RG recap
