Aryna Sabalenka kept her hopes of a first French Open title going as she sailed past Daria Kasatkina in straight sets during their third-round clash on Saturday. 

Sabalenka, who was the beaten finalist at Roland-Garros last year, needed just one hour and 16 minutes to earn a 6-0 7-5 victory, setting up a date with Naomi Osaka next. 

The Belarusian had won each of her four meetings with Kasatkina in straight sets, and she appeared set for another dominant triumph after bageling her opponent in the first set. 

However, Kasatkina was not going down quietly, and she broke the top seed in the opening game of the second set as she aimed to force a decider in the French capital. 

But Sabalenka got the better of her opponent's serve in the fourth game to level things up, with the pair trading blows to try and swing the encounter firmly in their favour. 

Kasatkina threatened a third set after going 30-0 up at 5-5, but Sabalenka reeled off eight of the last nine points as she sealed her progression at the second time of asking. 

 @SabalenkaA battles through!

Round of 16 #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/lhGxZrzgSr

— wta (@WTA) May 30, 2026

Sabalenka's victory sets up an intriguing clash with four-time grand slam champion Osaka, who overcame a tough test against American Iva Jovic to advance earlier in the day.

Osaka emerged a 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (3-6) 6-4 victor on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, surpassing her best run at Roland-Garros, having previously reached the third round three times. 

Data Debrief: 100 up for Sabalenka and Osaka

Sabalenka is spending her 84th and 85th consecutive weeks as the world number one at Roland-Garros, which is already inside the top 10 for the longest streak at top spot in WTA rankings history, and she performed as the top seed here. 

She is the ninth player since the WTA rankings were published in 1973 to claim 100+ wins as the world number one, after Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Iga Swiatek and Justine Henin. 

Osaka, meanwhile, ensured her 100th grand slam main draw match ended with a win. She became the third Japanese player in the Open Era to achieve the feat in women's singles majors, after Kimiko Date and Ai Sugiyama.

The 16th seed also made her eighth career grand slam fourth round, but this is the first time she has made it on a surface other than the hard court.