Naomi Osaka reaches the round of 16 at Roland-Garros for the first time with a hard-fought win over Iva Jovic at the 2026 French Open

Naomi Osaka breaks new ground in Paris!

The Japanese star reaches the round of 16 at Roland-Garros for the very first time after edging out rising teenager, Jovic in a hard-fought tussle.

The four-time Major winner breaks when Iva fizzes two backhands wide from 30-30 to allow Naomi to seal victory in two hours and 58 minutes.

Osaka will now meet the winner of Aryna Sabalenka and Daria Kasatkina in Rd 4.

Naomi slams down Aces 11 and 12 as she races through the love hold to apply some serious scoreboard pressure as this tight tussle reaches the final furlong.

There’s still nothing between these two.

Jovic sizzles a quite sensational backhand winner down the line en route to a hold to 15.

Jovic turns the screw at 15-15 as she pounces upon a second serve and arrows a thunderous backhand return down the line.

Osaka defends brilliantly at her baseline and then tracks down a dropper before angling a volley away for the winner.

The Japanese slams a clutch serve down the T to turn the game her way but is unlocked by a gigantic forehand down the line from the teenager.

The four-time Major winner remains calm and finds two big serves from there, claiming a hard-fought hold with a drive volley to finish.

Jovic throws down her third ace of the day to conclude a routine hold to 15.

Osaka revs up the big first serve and hammers her way through a game to 30 to keep her nose in front midway through the decider.

Iva hits clutch mode on serve to race back from 0-30 but Osaka makes deuce with a crushing drive volley off a blistering crosscourt return.

Jovic responds with a lovely kick-serve and then survives when Naomi blasts a mid-court forehand she should make all day wide of the island.

Osaka unleashes a backhand down the line at 0-15 and reels off the next three points, polishing off a strong hold with some sharp volleying at the net.

Iva piques Naomi’s interest with a double fault to open but reasserts herself with a clever drive volley down the middle en route to what turns into a routine game for the loss of one point.

Osaka kicks off the decider with a strong hold to 15 and another ‘Come on’ to convince herself she can go on and break new ground in Paris today.

We are going the distance!

The American lures an error to conjure up four set points and seals the breaker by a 7-3 scoreline on her second opportunity courtesy of some great scrapping that teases a wayward forehand off the island from her opponent.

Jovic plays with real aggression, licking the line with a bold second serve and forcing the early mini break.

Osaka responds with an ace and a huge ‘come on!’ but fizzes a forehand wide after supreme defence from her opponent.

Iva lands a clutch first serve to extend her lead and rifles a backhand up the line to take complete control at the change of ends.

Naomi releases some of that frustration by opening with her fastest serve of the match and then comes out on top in a high-octane baseline exchange.

The Japanese means business again now and an emphatic close-range drive volley is followed by a tremendous crosscourt backhand as she surges into the breaker courtesy of a love hold.

Iva slices long under pressure at 15-15 but steadies the ship when she leans low to her left to drill a belting backhand winner down the line.

A clutch serve puts her in charge and Naomi ends up throwing her racquet to the floor when she scorches a forehand just long.

Osaka leans on her powerhouse serve and lands a sixth ace of the day, but the Japanese fires a drive volley straight at Iva, allowing the American to angle a crosscourt pass that lures an error on the volley.

The serve comes to the rescue to put her 40-30 up but she leaks a loose forehand long to give Jovic a half chance from deuce.

A brutal one-two backhand punch puts her back in control and this time she gets it right with the drive volley to tie the set at five apiece.

Jovic is relieved to see Osaka leak errors on the return that she’d expect to be making, particularly as she had initially found her mark to threaten at 0-15.

Iva yelps with delight as she bags the game to 15 to apply the squeeze on the board.