A pair of top seeds advanced to the third round of the French Open with No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and No. 4 Coco Gauff earning straight-set victories Thursday at Paris.
No. 6 Amanda Anisimova also advanced along with No. 16 Naomi Osaka of Japan, No. 17 Iva Jovic, No. 19 Madison Keys, No. 22 Anna Kalinskaya of Russia and No. 25 Diana Shnaider of Russia.
Sabalenka got through France’s Elsa Jacquemot, earning a 7-5, 6-2 victory over the local favorite. The win set up a third-round match with unseeded Daria Kasatkina of Australia, who claimed a 7-5, 7-6 (11) victory over Susan Bandecchi of Switzerland.
Sabalenka won 68% of her first-service points and saved 5 of 7 break points while converting half of the 10 break points she earned. After trading breaks of serve early in the first set, Sabalenka broke serve again to finish off the first set.
“That was a very tough opponent. Tricky match,” Sabalenka said. “I’m happy that I closed it in straight sets.”
The second set was a breeze with Sabalenka breaking serve twice to take a 5-1 lead and again breaking serve to finish off the match.
“She played really incredible tennis and forced me to step in and play on another level,” Sabalenka said. “I am happy I could handle it and win.”
Gauff, the defending champion, earned a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Mayar Sherif of Egypt. It was the 80th grand-slam main-draw win in Gauff’s career.
Gauff lost serve twice in a tight first set that lasted more than a hour before closing out the match to earn a matchup against No. 28 seed Anastasia Potapova of Austria in the third round.
“It was a physical, tough match. I was really tested today. It took a lot of strength today,” Gauff said of the 1-hour, 51-minute match. “I will be focusing on getting more my rhythm back because I did not have it today.”
Anisimova handed Austria’s Julia Grabher a 6-0 defeat in their opening set before Grabher retired. Anisimova, who lost just six points in that set, will meet France’s Diane Parry in the third round.
Osaka collected a 7-6 (1), 6-4 victory over Dona Vekic of Croatia by winning 71% of her first-service points and converting 5 of 11 break-point chances.
Jovic moved on with an easy 6-0, 6-3 victory over fellow American Emma Navarro, while Keys registered a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Antonia Ruzic of Croatia. Kalinskaya advanced with a 7-6 (2), 6-4 victory over fellow Russian Alina Korneeva while Shnaider knocked off McCartney Kessler 7-6 (3), 6-1.
Potapova was the only seeded player who needed three sets to advance. After dropping the first set 7-5 to Great Britain’s Katie Boulter, Potapova responded by taking the next two sets 6-4, 6-2.
Two seeded players could not rally like Potapova. No. 23 seed Elise Mertens of Germany was eliminated 6-4, 6-0 by Maja Chwalinska of Poland while No. 30 Ann Li was sent home 6-3, 6-4 by Parry.
Unseeded players to advance included Maria Sakkari of Greece, Camila Osorio of Colombia and Oleksandra Oliynykova of Ukraine.
–Field Level Media
