Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - June 2, 2023 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka in action during her third round match against Russia's Kamilla Rakhimova REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
PARIS (Reuters) - Aryna Sabalenka wasted no time as she whizzed into the fourth round of the French Open with a 6-2 6-2 drubbing of Kamilla Rakhimova of Russia on Friday.
Strong on serve, the world number two broke twice in the opening set and raced to a 3-0 lead in the second on a sunbathed court Philippe Chatrier to set up a meeting with American Sloane Stephens or Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.
Sabalenka, who beat world number one Iga Swiatek in the Madrid Open final last month, has yet to lose a set in the tournament and has now broken her third-round loss streak in Paris.
The Belarusian, whose run at Roland Garros was stopped at that stage in the three previous editions, was always in control and despite some minor blips, faced only one break point - which she saved with a second-serve ace.
"It feels amazing to feel the support and just to be on this court and have the opportunity to play tennis," the Australian Open champion said after an encounter that lasted a little over an hour.
"Every tournament is different, Roland Garros is especially different from the Australian Open because of the surface but winning gives you confidence."
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
