Sabalenka surges into third round after slow start
French Open 2025
Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros
Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka continued her strong start to the French Open with a confident win against Switzerland's Jil Teichmann to reach the third round.
The Belarusian lost just one game in her Paris opener against Kamilla Rakhimova, but she surprisingly dropped serve early on against Teichmann.
However, the three-time major winner composed herself and recovered well from her sluggish start, winning five games in a row to grab the first set.
Sabalenka continued her charge in the second set with 17 winners to Teichmann's two, and she wrapped up a 6-3 6-1 win after 79 minutes.
"It doesn't matter what the scoreboard says, she really made me work for every point. I'm really happy with this win," Sabalenka said afterwards.
"It's always a tough match against her, she is a very tricky opponent with great tennis."
Sabalenka, one of the pre-tournament favourites, will face world number 34 Olga Danilovic after the Serb beat American Danielle Collins 6-4 3-6 6-4.
Earlier on Wednesday, last year's runner-up Jasmine Paolini moved past Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic with a routine 6-3 6-3 victory.
Fresh from from lifting a WTA 1,000 title in Rome earlier this month, the victory was Paolini's eighth in a row.
The Italian enjoyed a memorable 2024 season, soaring up the WTA rankings after reaching the finals of both the French Open and Wimbledon, while she also won Olympic gold in the women's doubles in Paris with compatriot Sara Errani.
Asked if she felt calmer playing on Court Philippe Chatrier this year, Paolini replied: "It's a different feel I guess because last year I played a few matches here, and then again at the Olympics, so I am a bit more used to this court. Before, I had never played here.
"I like this court, I have great memories here and it is great to be back in Paris in front of this crowd."
Paolini will face Ukraine's Yuliia Starodubtseva next.
Raducanu outclassed by Swiatek at French Open
Alcaraz overcomes blip to progress - but Ruud exits
French Open night session debate reignites
Teenager Victoria Mboko reached round three on her Grand Slam debut by easing to a 6-4 6-4 win over German world number 58 Eva Lys.
The 18-year-old from Canada came through qualifying without dropping a set, and will next face Olympic champion and eighth seed Zheng Qinwen of China, who earlier beat Colombian Emiliana Arango 6-2 6-3.
Ranked 333rd at the start of the year, this was Mboko's 39th win of the season and moves her into the world's top 100.
"I feel really happy right now, of course there is so much happening, even behind the scenes," said the former Wimbledon juniors semi-finalist.
"But I feel like my family has been doing a good job of keeping me really isolated from it all."
Meanwhile, 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia battled back to win 5-7 6-3 6-3 against American Caroline Dolehide.
Ukrainian 13th seed Elina Svitolina defeated Hungarian Anna Bondar 7-6 (7-4) 7-5 but Croatia's 18th seed Donna Vekic, who won Olympic silver at Roland Garros last year, was beaten 6-2 4-6 7-6 (10-3) by American world number 83 Bernarda Pera.
In the women's doubles, Britain's Jodie Burrage and Sonay Kartal fought back from a set down to win 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 6-3 against China's Guo Hanyu and Japan's Ena Shibahara in a rain-disrupted first-round match.
But Briton Harriet Dart and Australian partner Kimberly Birrell were beaten 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-2 by Romanian-Belgian duo Irina-Camelia Begu and Yanina Wickmayer.
Live scores, results and order of play
Get tennis news sent straight to your phone
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
29 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Canadian teen Victoria Mboko falls to Olympic champ Zheng Qinwen at French Open
PARIS - Canadian teen Victoria Mboko's breakthrough Grand Slam run came to an end Friday at the French Open. The 18-year-old from Toronto was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by No. 8 seed Zheng Qinwen of China in third-round action at Roland Garros. Mboko, ranked No. 333 at the start of the year, had surged into the spotlight with three straight wins in qualifying and two more in the main draw — all in straight sets — before running into Zheng, an Australian Open finalist who won Olympic gold in singles last summer on these same Paris clay courts. Zheng won 70 per cent of her first-serve points and saved six of eight break points. Mboko was broken four times and won only 38 per cent of her second-serve points. Still, it was a major step forward for Mboko in her Grand Slam main-draw debut. She'll officially enter the WTA's top 100 when the tournament wraps. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 30, 2025.
Fox Sports
35 minutes ago
- Fox Sports
French Open tennis players say nasal strips aren't just for snoring
Associated Press PARIS (AP) — If more tennis players find themselves breathing easier, it might just be thanks to Carlos Alcaraz. The four-time Grand Slam champion, whose bid for a second consecutive French Open title was scheduled to continue with a third-round match Friday night, has often worn a nasal strip in matches since last season — although not during his first two contests at Roland-Garros this week — and the sport's other athletes took note. After all, if Alcaraz finds something useful on the court, their thinking goes, maybe it makes sense to give the adhesive bands a shot. 'I saw Carlos playing in it,' said 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva, a semifinalist in Paris last year and the No. 6 women's seed this time. 'I'd be pretty interested to try and see if there is really a difference. If he plays matches in it, then probably there is.' At the 2024 season-ending ATP Finals last November, Alcaraz said: 'It is something that I'm going to wear more often. I could recover better between points.' Once associated with Pro Football Hall of Famer Jerry Rice and soccer stars like Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar, the bands, which essentially look like a Band-Aid worn across the bridge of the nose, are popping up on tennis courts — sometimes out of necessity, sometimes out of curiosity. They are designed to open the nostrils slightly, making it easier to breathe through the nose. Originally marketed to reduce snoring, they're being embraced to enhance air intake during physical exertion. The idea is simple: Better breathing could mean better oxygen intake. In practice, the science is less convincing. In 2021, Brazilian academic Ricardo Dinardi reviewed more than 600 studies on nasal strips and found they didn't make a real difference in how much air athletes took in, their heart rate or how strenuous exercise felt. 'The effect on athletic performance is mostly placebo,' Dinardi said. 'But in elite sports, even perceived benefits can count.' Three-time major finalist Casper Ruud, who wore the strips in matches earlier this year, knows the evidence is shaky. But he still liked using them — both on the court and while sleeping. Like Alcaraz, Ruud did not wear one in Paris before his second-round exit. But he has been testing a prototype of a different version. 'I tried out a device that's very early in development. It will be a bit more comfortable to wear, because it's inside the nose and it looks like I have this bullring under,' said Ruud, who was the runner-up at Roland-Garros to Rafael Nadal in 2022 and Novak Djokovic in 2023. 'It will return, don't worry.' For other players, like Nicolas Jarry, the strips are more than a trend — they're a necessity. After nasal surgery in 2020, the Chilean still needed help to draw air into his nose, so he puts them on for every practice and every match he plays. 'Without it, I cannot breathe. My nostrils shut when I try,' he said, inhaling to demonstrate for a reporter. 'Others don't have that issue and still use them.' Jarry definitely has noticed a recent spike in interest among players. He said that even though he's worn the strips for years, including at this French Open, other competitors on tour never asked about them — until Alcaraz started wearing one last year, sometimes in black, sometimes in pink. 'Others have asked me, and many are trying it," said Jarry, who sported a beige-colored strip in Paris. "But before him? Nothing.' There are those, like 2024 US Open runner-up Jessica Pegula, who are tempted to try. 'I have a horrible deviated septum. I can't really breathe out of one side of my nose," said Pegula, who will play 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the third round Saturday. 'Maybe I should start wearing one.' She admits, though, that the aesthetic aspect might be a deal-breaker. 'I don't know," Pegula said with a smile, 'if I have the confidence to rock one.' ___ AP Tennis Writer Howard Fendrich contributed. ___ AP tennis:
USA Today
36 minutes ago
- USA Today
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes addresses his flag football status for the Olympics
Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes addresses his flag football status for the Olympics One of the most significant news updates following the owners' meetings was the approval of NFL players to participate in flag football at the upcoming Olympics. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes expressed a desire to play two years ago and updated his preference during Thursday's press conference. "It's awesome, honestly. Just to be able to showcase the NFL to the whole world through flag football, but I'll probably leave that to the younger guys," said Mahomes, "I'll be a little old by the time that thing comes around." Each country's National Olympic Committee will select its Olympic roster based on proposals from the respective National Federations. The NFL's ability to send players will likely include some changes to accommodate training camps, but the two-time league MVP won't be interested in 2028. "I know first-hand that the inclusion of flag football in the Olympics has sparked a tremendous amount of excitement among NFL players interested in the chance to compete for their country on the world stage. said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in a statement last week." We are thrilled that they will now have that chance." Mahomes, now a father of three, would be 32 by the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. He could change his mind, but if he could compete, it would be a thrill for Chiefs fans and the league.
