Japan’s Naomi Osaka celebrates a point during the second round of match at the French Open 2026 tennis championship in Paris on May 28, 2026
| Photo Credit: AP
Naomi Osaka advanced to the third round of the French Open for the first time in seven years on Thursday (May 28, 2026) with a 7-6 (7/1), 6-4 win over Croatia’s Donna Vekic.
Four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka will next take on American teenager Iva Jovic as both players attempt to reach the last 16 at Roland Garros for the first time.
Osaka, seeded 16th, retrieved an early break against Vekic and then broke back again when her opponent was serving for the first set.
The Japanese star dominated a tie-break and came up with the decisive break late in the second set to put away the 72nd-ranked Vekic.
Osaka’s run to the US Open semi-finals last year is the only time she has made the second week of a major since her last Grand Slam triumph at the 2021 Australian Open.
The former world number one returned to the courts in early 2024 after a year out following the birth of her daughter.
* Osaka, who wore a sequined waistcoat blouse and black mesh train over her layered yellow-brown and gold match dress in the opening round, arrived for the contest with Vekic in a white floor-length flared train over her outfit.
* On another blazing day in Paris, the Japanese player traded breaks freely with Vekic in the opening set on Court Simonne Mathieu, before finding her best form during the tiebreak to prevail for the loss of only one point.
* Down a set, Paris Olympics silver medallist Vekic began to deploy a series of drop shots to trouble Osaka early in the second set but her challenge fizzled out as she surrendered her serve in the ninth game.
* Osaka saved a break point in the next game to close out the win in one hour and 50 minutes, reaching the third round for the first time since 2019.
* She will face 16th seed Iva Jovic in the third round, after the American beat compatriot Emma Navarro 6-0 6-3 earlier.
Published – May 28, 2026 05:23 pm IST
