No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka and No.4 seed Elena Rybakina both navigated second-round hurdles in straight sets at Roland Garros on Thursday. Sabalenka needed just 62 minutes to defeat qualifier Moyuka Uchijima 6-2, 6-2, and Rybakina came from 4-2 down in the second set to beat Arantxa Rus 6-3, 6-4 in 67 minutes.
One day after Naomi Osaka, currently the fourth-highest ranked Japanese player, came within a point of taking out No.1 seed Iga Swiatek, it was Japanese No.1 Uchijima's turn for the upset bid. The World No.83 had come into the match on an eye-catching 19-match winning streak, having won three consecutive ITF titles across two surfaces and continents before successfully qualifying in Paris.
However, the 22-year-old had only beaten one Top 50 player in her career -- Petra Martic back at Monastir 2022 -- and this was the first time she had even faced an opponent in the Top 30. Sabalenka demonstrated that for all Uchijima's form, the gulf between the levels the two players have been operating at was still significant.
Uchijima's loose-swinging style and deceptively pacy forehand garnered her a flurry of winners at the start of the match, and she captured the best point of the contest midway through the second set with a forehand pass. But once the two-time Australian Open champion captured the first break of the match for 3-2 with some booming returns, she did not relinquish control.
Sabalenka was rarely troubled on serve -- she faced just four break points, all in the same game at 4-2 in the second set. All four were dealt with via emphatic service winners and one-two punches. She fired 27 winners to Uchijima's 10, repeatedly teed off on return and deployed the drop shot as effectively as her powerful groundstrokes.
Solid stuff from Sabalenka 👊
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 30, 2024
Will play Badosa or Putinseva in the next round 👀#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/Rq1QA4s7C3
Sabalenka has now reached at least the third round of her past 14 Grand Slam appearances -- her last loss before this stage came to Victoria Azarenka in the 2020 US Open second round. She will next face Paula Badosa, who edged Yulia Putintseva 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in a battle of two former Roland Garros quarterfinalists. Sabalenka leads their head-to-head 4-2, including the last four encounters in a row.
Not only is Badosa one of Sabalenka's best friends on tour, she's even a player the World No.2 will make time to watch, even though she prefers to separate herself from tennis outside of her matches.
"She's my favorite," Sabalenka said. "I love her so much. I love to see her play, and she's really a great fighter, so it's always great matches.
"It's always tough to play your friend, your really best friend on tour, I would say. It's always tough, but we know how to manage that. We know how to separate court and life. So it's always great battle, great fight against her. I always enjoy playing against her. We're good to separate things."
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Rybakina passes Rus test in straight sets: Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina required all of her clutch play to get past the gritty Rus in two sets.
The Dutchwoman may not have beaten a Top 10 player in 12 years, but she has the experience of causing a Roland Garros upset under her belt. Back in 2011, she ousted No.2 seed Kim Clijsters in the second round. At the age of 33, she's also playing some of her best tennis. Last summer, she captured her first Hologic WTA Tour title in Hamburg and as a result made her Top 50 debut.
Rus's consistency from the back of the court, as well as some crowd-pleasing passing shots, made Rybakina work hard throughout the match. The Kazakhstani had to find her best serves to stave off two break points in the first half of the opening set; down 4-2 in the second, she came up with a pair of blistering backhands to retrieve the break immediately.
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Ultimately, it was Rybakina's ability to find another gear offensively that paid off. For all of Rus's power, the World No.50 opted for a consistent strategy, tallying 10 winners to just six unforced errors. But Rybakina took the risks off the ground, and ended with a total of 28 winners to 20 unforced errors.
Rybakina will next face No.25 seed Elise Mertens, who extended her perfect record to 5-0 against former Roland Garros quarterfinalist Petra Martic with a 6-4, 6-3 win. Rybakina leads their head-to-head 4-1, though Mertens won their only previous clay-court encounter 7-6(4), 7-5 in the second round of Madrid 2021.
