Sabalenka cruises into French Open second round
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PARIS: Aryna Sabalenka began her French Open campaign with a comfortable win on Tuesday as the Belarusian top seed downed Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4, 6-2 to soar through the first week of the tournament.
The only real blip for Sabalenka as she returned to winning ways on clay after a surprise early exit from the Italian Open was her failure to serve out the match on Court Philippe Chatrier. But the four-time major winner broke in the next game to book her spot in the second round after just 75 minutes on court.
Sabalenka will face France’s Elsa Jacquemot in the round-of-64.
Following a wet and cold Italian Open earlier in May and similar conditions during the practice week at Roland Garros, the big-hitting 28-year-old said the scorching conditions played somewhat in her favour.
“I’d say that it was a bit warm,” she joked. “Especially compared to the first days when I got here, it was like 14C, like, freezing. Now it’s boiling hot and balls are flying, everything is faster. But physically I feel strong, so I feel like it can benefit me.”
Women’s defending champion Coco Gauff made short work of fellow American Taylor Townsend, kicking off her tournament with a clinical 6-4, 6-0 performance.
Gauff will next meet Egyptian qualifier Mayar Sherif.
Russian sixth seed Daniil Medvedev went down 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 1-6, 6-4 to Australian wildcard Adam Walton.
It was the seventh time in 10 French Open appearances that the former world number one has fallen in the first round.
Walton said that a win over Medvedev in Cincinnati last year had given him the confidence to repeat the feat.
Rising US star Iva Jovic, 18, further confirmed her potential as she strolled past Alexandra Eala 6-4, 6-2 to book a clash with compatriot Emma Navarro, who defeated Indonesian Janice Tjen in straight sets.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 runner-up, moved past the round-of-128 as his French opponent Alexandre Muller retired injured when trailing 6-2, 3-0.
French 17-year-old Moise Kouame won his first match at his home major; an impressive 7-6(7/4), 6-2, 6-1 victory over 2014 US Open winner Marin Cilic of Croatia. With the win Kouame became the youngest man to win a major main-draw match.
On Monday, French favourite Gael Monfils, who will end his career when the season concludes, was also unable to keep his campaign going and fell 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, 6-0 to compatriot Hugo Gaston on Court Philippe Chatrier.
Meanwhile, twice finalist Casper Ruud struggled in the afternoon heat, squandering five match points in the third set and taking several medical timeouts before settling to beat Russian qualifier Roman Safiullin 6-2, 7-6(7/5), 5-7, 0-6, 6-2.
In other late matches, American fifth seed Ben Shelton downed Daniel Merida Aguilar 6-3, 6-3 ,6-4, Russian Andrey Rublev beat Hamburg champion Ignacio Buse 6-3 6-7(6/8), 6-3, 7-5 while Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis came through an epic against Terence Atmane 6-7(5/7), 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.
Former runner-up Jasmine Paolini, Daria Kasatkina, Anastasia Potapova and Amanda Anisimova and 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko all sealed routine wins to go through to the next round.
Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2026
