Naomi Osaka set to face Aryna Sabalenka

Naomi Osaka and Aryna Sabalenka are set to meet in the Madrid Open Round of 16 after both won comfortably on Saturday. (wtatennis.com) Sabalenka, the world No. 1 and top seed, beat No. 28 seed Jaqueline Cristian 6-1, 6-4 to reach the fourth round in Madrid again. (wtatennis.com) Osaka followed with a 6-1, 6-3 win over former world No. 25 Anhelina Kalinina, closing the match in 1 hour, 16 minutes. (wtatennis.com) The matchup will be their first on clay and their third career meeting on the Women’s Tennis Association tour. Their head-to-head is tied 1-1. (wtatennis.com) Sabalenka leveled that rivalry in March with a straight-sets win over Osaka in the fourth round at Indian Wells. WTA said she took a 14-match winning streak into Madrid’s last 16. (wtatennis.com) Madrid has been one of Sabalenka’s strongest events. The three-time champion is seeking a fifth quarterfinal in eight appearances at the tournament. (wtatennis.com) For Osaka, the stakes are different: she is trying to make the Madrid quarterfinals for the first time since 2019. The official WTA draw places her in Sabalenka’s section of the Round of 16. (wtatennis.com 1) (wtatennis.com 2) Osaka arrived in Madrid after a month away from the tour following her opening-round loss in Miami. She told reporters she had gone home, taken her daughter Shai to school, and spent time “pretty much” being a mom. (independent.co.uk) That break came after Osaka said in Miami that she did not want to stay on tour if she kept losing in the first round. In Madrid, she said travelling with Shai had helped her perspective. (independent.co.uk) The next match will decide whether Sabalenka extends her run at one of her best clay events, or whether Osaka reaches her first Madrid quarterfinal in seven years. (wtatennis.com)