On a rainy Thursday at Roland Garros, Aryna Sabalenka breezed into the third round, while No.11 Danielle Collins fell to Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic.
Not affected by showers, second seed and last year’s semifinalist Sabalenka needed just 62 minutes to overcome Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima 6-2 6-2 under the roof on Court Philippe Chatrier. Uchijima, ranked world No.83, had been on a 19-match winning streak, having secured three ITF tournament victories since late April and successfully navigating through three qualifying matches and the first round at Roland Garros.
Sabalenka continues her strong performance in Paris, having dropped just three games against Erika Andreeva in the first round. In the third round, the Belarusian will face her best friend Paula Badosa for the seventh time, and third time this season.
After starting the year by successfully defending her Australian Open title, Sabalenka prepared for the French Open by reaching the finals on clay at both the Mutua Madrid Open and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia.
The world No.125 Danilovic upset 11th seed Collins 6-7(3) 7-5 6-4, advancing to the third round of Roland Garros and thus matching her best career result at the season’s second Grand Slam. The entertaining battle, interrupted by rain, lasted two hours…
