French Open top seed Sabalenka blasts her way into second round
RFI
26 May 2025, 00:07 GMT+10
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the second round of the French Open on Sunday with a 6-1, 6-0 dismissal of the unseeded Russian Kamilla Rakhimova.
The Belarusian sped into a 3-0 lead after 10 minuteson centre courtand claimed the service of the world number 86 for a second time to lead 5-1.
Her third ace of the encounter sealed the game to wrap up the opener 6-1 after 24 minutes.
It was one-way traffic in the second and all over after an hour.
"The first match is always tricky especially against someone you like,"Sabalenkatold the on-court interviewer Marion Bartoli.
"I'm very friendly with Kamilla so I'm super happy with the way I played."
Thirteenth seed Elina Svitolina was almost as expeditious. The 30-year-old Ukrainian blitzed Zeynep Sonmez from Turkey 6-1, 6-1 in 72 minutes.
Elsewhere in the women's draw, the Canadian qualifier Victoria Mboko won her first match in the main draw at a Grand Slam event with a 6-1, 7-6 victory over Lulu Sun from New Zealand
"Before the match I didn't really feel that nervous," said the 18-year-old. Challenge
"Lulu is a really great player and I knew I had to bring some great tennis out. Before playing the match I just took it as like it's another match.
"Of course, it's a really big deal for me, but I tried to kind of trick my brain into thinking it wasn't such a big deal you're just playing another match, just another tournament. It helped me kind of calm down."
Eighth seedQinwen Zhengsaw off the 2021 finalistAnastasia Pavlyuchenkova6-4, 6-3.
"She plays aggressively so it wasn't an easy match. I'm just happy to get through because I always think the first match at a Grand Slam event is tricky."
Originally published on RFI
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