Yeah… OK… 4 Slams for Osaka, but the clay is for my girl Vekic!

On Tuesday morning in Paris, Naomi Osaka walked onto the court in a black evening dress by Kevin Germanier. Laura Siegemund looked at it with an expression that said it all, and later stated after the match that the big players were treated differently. Osaka didn’t care; she had a match to play. She won it 6–3 7–6(3), coming back from 3–5 down in the second set before closing it out in the tiebreak. Four Grand Slams, two years of maternity, a gradual return on clay since her WTA 125 title in Saint-Malo in 2025. The 29-year-old Japanese player, seeded 16th and coached by Wim Fissette, is moving forward match after match with a serenity that contrasts sharply with the turbulence of her recent years. Her 2026 clay stats are impressive: Match Efficiency at 2.700, 100% of tiebreaks won, 56% of break points converted. When she gets chances, she takes them.

Donna Vekić took care of wildcard Tubello 6–3 6–2 in 1h18 on Tuesday. Clean, efficient, no wasted energy. The 29-year-old Croat, ranked WTA No. 66 and coached by Biljana Veselinovič, is coming off an unfinished golden spell: Olympic silver medal on this very clay in 2024, Wimbledon 2024 semifinal, career-high ranking of No. 17 in January 2025. Since then, the slide has been gradual. But her 2026 clay stats tell a different story: Dominance Ratio 1.298 compared to Osaka’s 0.926, 75.9% of service games won versus 68.9%, Breakpoints Prevail at 1.512 compared to 1.217. On clay in 2026, Vekić dominates the rallies and holds serve far better than the Japanese player.