Aryna Sabalenka cut through the French Open chaos as the world No 1 beat Australia’s Daria Kasatkina 6-0 7-5 yesterday to seal her place in the fourth round after seismic upsets in the previous two days at Roland Garros.
With top seed Jannik Sinner and 24-times Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic exiting in the last 48 hours, Sabalenka restored order with a commanding display to book a tantalising meeting with Japan’s Naomi Osaka.
Sabalenka wasted little time to get going on a sun-drenched Court Suzanne Lenglen, winning the opening five games with a mix of power from the baseline and precision at the net, before she fought from 15-40 down in the next to secure a bagel.
Russian-born Kasatkina, who began representing her adopted country last year, broke and held against the run of play in the second set to draw chants of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie...” and those voices soon became a lot quieter.
An unforced error from Kasatkina allowed Sabalenka to draw level at 2-2, and the four-times Grand Slam champion stayed in touch before dialling up the intensity late on to complete her eighth victory in 10 meetings between the pair.
Osaka — who dazzled with an all-gold outfit — had to dig deep for a hard-fought 7-6(5) 6-7(3) 6-4 victory over American teenager Iva Jovic to reach her first-ever French Open fourth round.
Playing in a gold sequined top and skirt — her latest fashion statement in Paris — Osaka found it hard going from the start, with Jovic dulling her opponent’s sparkle in her first Grand Slam third-round appearance.
The 18-year-old American may have found herself in unknown tournament territory but looked completely at ease on Court Suzanne Lenglen as she pushed the former world No 1 to a first-set tiebreak.
Osaka, seeded 16th, had wasted two set points at 6-5 and needed three more before subduing Jovic 7-5 in the tiebreak.
On a razor’s edge
It was a similar story in the second set, with a break apiece, and Jovic winning the second tiebreak to level.
The third set was again on a razor’s edge, with Jovic refusing to buckle and matching Osaka’s power blow for blow. But the Japanese carved out a match point at 5-4 on the American’s serve and converted it to move into the next round.
Reuters
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.