Why Sabalenka’s Roland-Garros triumph was significant for women’s tennis

Calling it historic is too much, but world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka and four-time major champion Naomi Osaka – a former world No.1 – played for far more than a quarter-final berth in a rare women’s night match at Roland-Garros on Monday (Paris time).

The tournament had not showcased a women’s contest in the primetime slot for three years, despite being the sole slam with a woman as tournament director, former world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo.

They more than justified their billing in a power-hitting spectacle that Sabalenka won in outstanding fashion, 7-5, 6-3, to keep alive her quest for a maiden grand slam title on the Parisian clay.

“She’s such a great player, and I always have tough battles against her,” Sabalenka said.

“[She plays] super aggressive tennis, and I’m mostly happy with the way I served, and that I was able to put all of that pressure back on her, and I’m happy with the win. It was a very tough one, and it’s amazing to play in the night session in front of you all.”

The contest came on the same day the WTA Tour announced that legendary American Serena Williams would make her comeback at Queen’s Club in London next week after last playing at the 2022 US Open.

Sabalenka has reached at least the last eight at 14 consecutive majors, a period when she has established herself as the dominant force in women’s tennis – but won only four of eight finals, including being runner-up to Coco Gauff at Roland-Garros last year.

But with Gauff, four-time champion Iga Swiatek and Australian Open winner Elena Rybakina already out, Sabalenka is a hot favourite to finally lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen, which would be her fifth slam trophy.

Unlike the Australian and US opens, the claycourt major schedules just one night match each day. Wimbledon does not have a night session at all because of a strict curfew.

The much-anticipated clash between Sabalenka and Osaka – two of the sport’s genuine superstars, by performance and profile – represented the first night match in Paris between women since Sabalenka beat American Sloane Stephens in the fourth round in 2023.

Osaka said before the match was scheduled that she had stopped even associating night matches with the claycourt slam because of how rarely women received that stage.

Mauresmo’s argument for the gender disparity was that she had to think of ticket holders, and the shorter, best-of-three-sets format for women meant heightened risk of only two sets being played and not offering value.

However, she received significant backlash at her first event in charge in 2022, when she said men’s matches had “more