Sabalenka, Gauff and Osaka advance to French Open third round

World number one Arina Sabalenka and defending champion Coco Gauff both secured their places in the third round of the French Open women's singles on Thursday. Naomi Osaka also progressed without trouble.

The French Open women's singles draw continued to take shape on Thursday, as the tournament's biggest names stepped up to claim their spots in the third round. World number one Arina Sabalenka, defending champion Coco Gauff, and former Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka all came through their second-round matches without dropping out.

Arina Sabalenka has been in dominant form at Roland Garros, continuing the kind of consistent tennis that has kept her at the top of the world rankings. The Belarusian showed no signs of vulnerability as she moved into the last 32 of the draw.

Coco Gauff, who claimed the title at Roland Garros in her previous run as champion, also advanced smoothly, reinforcing her status as one of the favourites to lift the trophy again. Gauff's performance suggested she is finding her rhythm on the Parisian clay.

Naomi Osaka, who has had a turbulent run of results since returning to the tour, also made it through to the third round, giving her fans reason for optimism heading into the latter stages of the tournament.