Naomi Osaka once again lit up Roland-Garros with her choice of outfit as well as her talent on court as she beat American teenager Iva Jovic to set up a meeting with world No 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round of the French Open.
Osaka had to dig deep for a hard-fought 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (3-7) 6-4 victory over 17th seed Jovic, in a match lasting two minutes short of the three-hour mark, while Sabalenka had a more comfortable afternoon in disposing of Australian Daria Kasatkina 6-0 7-5.
Osaka's decision to play in a gold sequined top and skirt in Paris drew criticism from her first-round opponent Laura Siegemund, who said after exiting the tournament in a straight-sets defeat to the four-time Grand Slam champion.
But it has far from deterred Osaka, who has added different variations to her outfit when walking on court for each round, with a metallic gold bomber jacket this time offset by a tannish-gold train.
"It's a surprise every time," Osaka said of her fashion choices, after clinching a place in the French Open fourth round for the first time in her career.
"For a long time, I didn't have fun for a little bit. And you guys know that period of time in my life," Osaka added, referring to how in 2021 she withdrew from the French Open due to issues over anxiety and depression .
"Now I just want things to be fun, and I want to make it exciting for myself. For me, it would be weirder to wear a normal tennis kit, almost, at this point."
Osaka wasted two set points at 6-5 in the first set, and needed three more before taking the opener in a tie-break.
It was a similar story in the second set, with both players earning a break apiece, but Jovic this time triumphant in the breaker to force a deciding set.
The third was again on a razor's edge, with Jovic refusing to buckle and matching Osaka's power blow for blow, until the former world No 1 carved out a match point at 5-4 on the American's serve and converted it to book a meeting with Sabalanka in the last 16.
"Today I was a lot calmer than my first few matches," Osaka said. "I think in Slams, the further I get, the calmer I am - because it's such a privilege to be here.
"I've never been to the fourth round of Roland-Garros before. This is my first time; I'm just really grateful."
In a tournament full of upsets so far - particularly in the men's draw - Sabalenka restored some order when storming the first set against Kasatkina without dropping a game.
Kasatkina, ranked 53rd in the world, broke and held against the run of play to start the second set, but Sabalenka would swiftly restore parity with a break for 2-2.
The four-time Grand Slam champion stayed in touch before dialling up the intensity late on to complete her eighth victory in 10 meetings between the pair.
"It has definitely been a great week," Sabalenka said in her on-court interview afterwards. "I'm happy to be through to the second week, happy with my level, and to be able to handle the fight that she brought and get a straight-sets win."
The 28-year-old was then reminded that it was her 100th victory as world No 1, making her the ninth player to achieve the feat since the inception of the WTA rankings.
"I've got goosebumps," said Sabalenka, who joins Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Chris Evert, Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles, Justine Henin and Iga Swiatek in achieving the feat.
"It means the world to me and I'm just happy that in the tough moments I stayed tough. I was fighting and never gave up and that is what it has brought me.
"I'm super proud of myself and my team. We've reached an amazing level that felt impossible."
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