As tune-up tournaments like this week's 2025 Italian Open dominate tennis ahead of the 2025 French Open, one familiar name is back in the headlines, with world No. 48 Naomi Osaka making significant strides on the clay court.

Coming off her first tournament win since 2021 at L'Open 35 de Saint-Malo — a WTA 125 event — last weekend, Osaka immediately advanced to the Italian Open's third round this week.

The four-time Grand Slam winner has shown glimpses of brilliance after returning from her 2023 pregnancy, with Osaka now aiming to keep up momentum on her historically weakest surface.

"Kinda ironic to win my first trophy back on the surface that I thought was my worst," Osaka posted after her May 4th victory. "That's one of my favorite things about life though, there's always room to grow and evolve."

Osaka isn't the only tennis star cooking in Europe, as heavy-hitters like world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 2 Iga Świątek, and No. 3 Coco Gauff also moved ahead in Rome as they look to hone their Roland-Garros form.

Not usually a clay court specialist, Sabalenka has looked particularly formidable, defeating Gauff to take the 2025 Madrid Open title just last week.

How to watch the 2025 Italian Open

The 2025 Italian Open's Round of 32 kicks off early Saturday morning, with continuing coverage on The Tennis Channel.

World No. 4 Coco Gauff hit an exclamation point on Thursday, as the soon-to-be highest-ranked US player ousted clay-court titan Iga Świątek from the 2025 Madrid Open semifinals with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 performance.

"The mentality that I had in the whole match was aggressive," the 21-year-old said after her victory. "Maybe it wasn't [Świątek's] best level today, but I think I forced her into some awkward positions."

As for for No. 2 Świątek, Thursday’s loss continued a near-year of frustration for the 23-year-old, who's failed to advance past a WTA Tour semifinal round since winning her fourth French Open last summer.

"Coco played good, but I think it's on me that I didn’t really move well," she said after the semifinal. "I wasn't ready to play back the shots with heaviness, and with that kind of game. It was pretty bad."

With the once-dominant Świątek struggling on clay, questions are forming in the lead-up to the May 25th start of the Roland-Garros — the second Grand Slam of the pro tennis season.

While Świątek will hope to break her stumbling streak by defending her three straight French Open titles later this month, Gauff — who, prior to this week, hadn't advanced past a quarterfinals round since her 2024 WTA Finals win last November — is rising from her own frustrating 2025 start at just the right time.

The 2022 French Open finalist is grabbing significant momentum before returning to Stade Roland-Garros — but Gauff faces one more opponent before she can focus on the clay court's Grand Slam, with world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka awaiting her in Saturday's 2025 Madrid Open finale.

How to watch the 2025 Madrid Open championship match

Gauff will contend with Sabalenka in the 2025 Madrid Open women's singles final at 12:30 PM ET on Saturday, with live coverage airing on the Tennis Channel.

Clay season is in full swing, as the world's top tennis talents hit the court at the 2025 Madrid Open this week, seeking strong performances on the tricky surface before contending in the French Open next month — the clay court's Grand Slam.

The second round of the 2025 Madrid Open kicked off early Thursday morning, with much of the sport's Top 25 hunting the WTA 1000 event's title.

Leading the field is clay specialist Iga Świątek, as the world No. 2 player will look to defend her 2024 Madrid trophy and stir up momentum for the month ahead.

Despite ceding her No. 1 ranking to Aryna Sabalenka late last year, Świątek is nearly impossible to beat on clay, with four French Open championships already under her belt.

The 23-year-old, however, is coming off a quarterfinal upset loss to eventual champion No. 18 Jeļena Ostapenko at last week's 2025 Stuttgart Open — a clay-court tournament Świątek's won twice.

That said, Świątek is off to strong start in Madrid, where she defeated No. 72 Alexandra Eala 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday — enacting revenge on the teen Philippines phenom after Eala defeated her in the 2025 Miami Open final last month.

Gauff seeks 2025 season turnaround on clay

Along with Świątek, other players to watch this week include US favorites No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 4 Coco Gauff, and No. 5 Madison Keys.

Keys and Gauff will begin their 2025 Madrid Open runs on Thursday, while Pegula will start serving in the second wave of the tournament's round of 64 on Friday.

Gauff has seen past success on clay, reaching the French Open final back in 2022 — to face eventual champion Świątek.

The 21-year-old star, however, is in the midst of a particularly frustrating 2025 run, having yet to advance past the quarterfinals of any competition since winning the 2024 WTA Finals.

"I've started to believe that you can just turn it around any week. And just as quickly as you can go on a tear, you can also lose," Gauff said this week.

How to watch the 2025 Madrid Open

The 2025 Madrid Open runs through Saturday, May 3rd. Continuing live coverage will air on the Tennis Channel.