Sabalenka wants French Open title, not favourite tag
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 30, 2025 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka reacts with Serbia's Olga Danilovic after winning their third round match REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 30, 2025 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka in action during her third round match against Serbia's Olga Danilovic REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 30, 2025 Serbia's Olga Danilovic reacts during her third round match against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 30, 2025 Serbia's Olga Danilovic in action during her third round match against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 30, 2025 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka in action during her third round match against Serbia's Olga Danilovic REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
PARIS - While she is on a mission to get her hands on the Suzanne Lenglen Cup at the French Open, Aryna Sabalenka is more than happy to leave the favourite's tag to four-time champion Iga Swiatek.
Swiatek, who won the last three titles in Paris, has had a troubled pre-tournament swing, but the Polish player has been in fine form since Roland Garros started, reinforcing indeed her status as a favourite.
World number one Sabalenka has also been steamrolling her opponents, conceding only 10 games and she powered into the fourth round with a 6-2 6-3 victory against Serbia's Olga Danilovic on Friday.
The Belarusian dominated her opponent from the start and although she faced some brief resistance in the second set, she easily set up a meeting with 16th seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States as well as strengthening her title credentials.
"I am super happy with the win, Olga is a fighter and I knew it would be a fight. She played like a top 10 player; pretty soon she will be in the top 10," said Sabalenka.
Sabalenka started in ruthless fashion, racing to a 5-0 lead but Danilovic avoided the bagel by winning the sixth game on serve, going on to pull a break back.
The resurgence was shortlived, however, as Sabalenka wrapped up the opening set with another break of serve.
Danilovic put up a decent fight in the second set but there was no comeback on the cards as Sabalenka broke for 5-3.
The three-time Grand Slam champion wrapped it up with an unreturnable serve on a half-empty Court Philippe Chatrier - a common occurrence on early matches at the French Open.
Is that enough to make her the top favourite for a maiden French Open title?
"It's tough to predict in women's tennis, you know. Let's just leave it (the favourite tag) on Iga since she won it, what, three times in a row, really, right?," she said.
"Let's just... I will just leave it for her." REUTERS
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