Having had an underwhelming clay swing coming into the French Open, Naomi Osaka has managed to pick up her form just at the right time. She has advanced to the fourth round of the Grand Slam for the first time in her career after racking up three impressive victories. Her latest result was a hard-fought 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 triumph over Iva Jovic.

When asked about the notable improvement in her performance on clay, Osaka revealed that she has been taking inspiration from arguably the greatest player to ever set foot on the surface.

“I keep thinking of a stat Tomasz told me. I don’t know if it’s accurate, but it’s been helping me out a lot,” she said during the post-match press conference. “I don’t want to tell you guys the numbers because I’m going to be totally wrong, but he said Nadal’s won like 98% of his matches here and he has only won like, 50 something per cent of the points. So, I just thought to myself like, I don’t have to win every single point, but I just have to try every single point, and hopefully it goes in my favor.”

Osaka was not wrong about the stat. Though Nadal boasts an incredible win-loss record of 112-4 at the French Open, he was able to win only 58.5% of points. Having participated in a total of 19 editions, Nadal went on to clinch the Roland Garros title a record 14 times, and was bested by only three opponents: Robin Soderling (2009), Novak Djokovic (2015, 2021), and Alexander Zverev (2024).

Who better to look up to than the star who has ruled this court?

Also, this isn’t the first time that Osaka has sought inspiration from Nadal during the clay swing. She tried to replicate his style of play back in the 2022 season when she was preparing for her Madrid Open campaign. It won’t be wrong to say that the 28-year-old admires Nadal a lot.

“I think I stole one of the things that he (Nadal) did and I’ve been practicing it recently. It’ll either go really good or really bad. There’s like no in between. But I think as I’ve been doing it, it’s been going pretty well,” she had said.

Osaka has put in a solid performance at the French Open so far. She began her campaign by racking up a comprehensive 6-3, 7-6 victory over Laura Siegemund. She then defeated Donna Vekic 7-6, 6-4 in the second round before eliminating Jovic. Though Osaka has been in great shape so far, she will face the first real test of the tournament in the next round.

Osaka has been drawn against Aryna Sabalenka in the fourth round of the French Open, and the pair is set to lock horns for the third time this season. Looking at the previous results from the matchup, the Belarusian appears to have the momentum on her side.

Their first meeting of the year had come in the R16 of the Indian Wells Open, where Sabalenka had recorded a commanding 6-2, 6-4 victory. At the Madrid Open, despite making a strong start, Osaka faltered big time and handed Sabalenka a 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 win.

Osaka still appeared to be optimistic about her chances against Sabalenka when asked about the lessons she learned from the previous two results.

Naomi Osaka sends clear message to Aryna Sabalenka ahead of French Open clash

“I don’t really know. I didn’t know that, actually. You only live once! We’ll see! I feel like in Madrid, I played well against her. Maybe by faltering in the second and third sets. But I’m going to stay on the offensive; we’ll see what happens,” she stated.

While Osaka has indeed been impressive at the Roland Garros so far, Sabalenka hasn’t been lagging behind by any means. She is yet to drop a set in the tournament and has asserted dominance over her opponents in the first three matches. Sabalenka commenced her campaign by defeating Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-2, before knocking out Elsa Jacquemot 7-5, 6-2. Her latest result in the tournament was a one-sided 6-0, 7-5 victory over Daria Kasatkina.

When asked about the upcoming encounter, Sabalenka harked back to her meeting with Osaka in Madrid and highlighted that the latter very well knows how to raise her level mid-match.

“I feel that the last match in Madrid was very close and of high level; she really raised her level in that match,”she said during a post-match press conference. “I am prepared for the battle, ready to go out there and fight for that match and for that win. Ready to do whatever it takes to win.”

Will Sabalenka continue her ruthless run at the French Open, or will Osaka pull off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament so far? We will have to wait and watch.