Preview: French Open: Donna Vekic vs. Naomi Osaka - prediction, head-to-head, tournament so far

Fresh off dispatching French wildcard Alice Tubello in Tuesday's first round, Donna Vekic will face four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka on Thursday for a place in the third round.

Vekic has reached the third round of the French Open once in the current decade and three times in 13 previous appearances; though her next opponent has barely pulled up trees either, never going past the third round in eight main-draw involvements.

Match preview

Vekic's ranking may have slipped in the last 15 months, but the former world No. 17 still packs a punch on her day.

The Croatian player had to make do with deep runs in Linz and Istanbul, either side of failure to play in Madrid ahead of the second Major of 2026, reaching the semi-finals and title matches, respectively, boosting her tally of wins during what has been a year of mixed fortunes.

Although the 29-year-old's 6-3, 6-2 success over Tubello was her 19th of the season, many of those successes have been in qualifying or outside the star-studded tour-level tournaments.

Tuesday's success was Vekic's first in a WTA 500 tournament or higher since beating Karolina Pliskova in Linz last month, and she now heads into Thursday's third round aware of what beating Osaka would represent.

Vekic has mostly had to make do with first- or second-round exits in the French capital throughout her career, with 2015, 2019 and 2024 the only times she has reached the third round or higher, 2019's run to the last 16 being her finest performance to date.

On the other side of the net is Osaka, who sparkled in her appearance for the umpteenth time on court this season, her gold dress catching the eye on Court Suzanne-Lenglen before she produced an admirable performance.

Laura Siegemund often makes things awkward for opponents, but Osaka got the job done in two tight sets, sealing a 6-3, 7-6(3) victory in one hour and 55 minutes.

The four-time Slam winner outdid the veteran German player 27-16 on winners and also hit more unforced errors (34-28) during an encounter that could have been complicated had the 38-year-old forced a decider.

However, it was Osaka who advanced to the second round in Paris to avoid consecutive tournament-opening exits and a fourth early elimination overall after first-round losses in 2017, 2022 and 2025.

Tuesday's win was only Osaka's ninth at the clay-court Major — only at Wimbledon (7-5) does she have fewer wins — highlighting her fondness for the leading hard-court events, where she has 28 wins apiece.

Now one more win away from equalling her best performance in the French capital, Osaka will hope to capitalise on facing an opponent who has hardly pulled up trees against the top 50 in the last year or so.

Tournament so far

Donna Vekic:

First round: vs. Alice Tubello 6-3 6-2

Naomi Osaka:

First round: vs. Laura Siegemund 6-3 7-6[3]

Head To Head

Stuttgart (2019) - Quarter-finals: Osaka 6-3 4-6 7-6(4)

Australian Open (2016) - First round: Osaka 6-3 6-2

Osaka and Vekic will face off for the third time on Thursday, but their previous encounter took place seven years ago in Stuttgart.

The former world No. 1 won that match in three sets, taking a deciding set tie-break in Germany, three years after their first meeting on the hard courts of Australia, where the Japanese superstar won in two in her Grand Slam debut.

Heading into their third meeting without success against top 20 opponents in nearly a year is instructive for the Croatian four-time WTA champion, who is 1-6 against such players in the last 52 weeks.

We say: Osaka to win in three sets

Although Vekic still has the tools to make things awkward for opponents, a five-match losing run against top-20 opponents highlights the 29-year-old's ongoing struggles against the elite.

While Osaka's least favourite surface may be the clay, the four-time Slam champion should get the job done to advance to another third-round match in Paris, where Iva Jovic or Emma Navarro awaits.