The 2025 French Open enters its second week with a historic matchup headlining the schedule on Monday, as two of women’s tennis biggest superstars Aryna Sabalenka and Naomi Osaka will meet in the first women’s night match held at Roland Garros in three years. This clash marks their third meeting of 2025 and the fourth encounter of their professional careers, with every past match between the two four-time Grand Slam champions coming at the round of 16 stage.
World No. 1 Sabalenka comes into the match chasing her first ever French Open title, a goal that fell just one win short last year when she suffered a heartbreaking final defeat to Coco Gauff. The Belarusian top seed is under no illusions about the test Osaka will bring, praising the Japanese star for her impressive resurgence after stepping away from the tour in 2023 to welcome her first child.
“It’s great, great to see her back on her level. Maybe not at her best level, but she’s back, she’s fighting, she’s building her level,” Sabalenka said of her upcoming opponent. “It’s nice to see her. She’s a great player, great person. I feel like I really enjoy our battles. It’s high-level matches, and I really enjoy when somebody pushes me to the limit.”
For Osaka, this run to the round of 16 is already a career-first at Roland Garros, marking a remarkable comeback from her maternity break and proving she has found far more comfort on the Paris clay than ever before. Osaka, who claimed four Grand Slam singles titles before her pause from the sport, took time to rediscover her form after rejoining the tour, but broke through with a US Open semi-final run last year — her first trip to the second week of a major since winning the 2021 Australian Open.
The 26-year-old has set clear goals for her 2025 clay and grass court swing, and is not planning to end her run in Paris on Monday. “I really wanted to make it a goal to do really well on clay and grass. I don’t want this to be my last round. I want to keep going. I just want to keep focusing on every match,” Osaka said.
The winner of Monday’s marquee matchup will advance to the quarter-finals, where they will face either former Australian Open champion Madison Keys or Russian rising star Diana Shnaider. Beyond the headline clash, several other women’s matches will unfold on Monday’s schedule: the last remaining home hope Diane Parry will aim to replicate last year’s surprise semi-final run from fellow French wildcard Lois Boisson when she faces Polish qualifier Maja Chwalinska, while 28th seed Anastasia Potapova of Austria will look to build on her upset victory over defending champion Coco Gauff against Russia’s Anna Kalinskaya.
The men’s draw has been turned upside down ahead of round of 16 play, with the top half left wide open after the shock early exit of world No. 2 Jannik Sinner and an opening round defeat for young American star Ben Shelton. That leaves world No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada as the highest-ranked player remaining in that section of the draw, and he will bid to reach his first ever French Open quarter-final against Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo — who is competing in his first ever Grand Slam round of 16.
The open draw has opened unexpected opportunities for lower-ranked players, including American world No. 85 Zachary Svajda, who had only won two Grand Slam matches total before this tournament. When asked about Sinner’s exit opening up the draw, Svajda said he is focusing on one match at a time against Italian 10th seed Flavio Cobolli. “When I saw Sinner was out, I try to stay present and stay positive and just take it day by day, match by match,” he said. “I knew the draw was open, but I just tried to keep doing my routines, keep doing what I’ve been doing, and just see what happens.”
Other notable men’s matches on Monday include a showdown between former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini and Sinner’s conqueror Juan Manuel Cerundolo, with the Italian targeting his first Grand Slam quarter-final appearance since 2022. American big-hitter Frances Tiafoe, who reached the French Open quarter-finals last year, will take on rising Italian talent Matteo Arnaldi.