Aryna Sabalenka is safely through to the third round of the French Open after beating qualifier Iryna Shymanovich 7-5 6-2 with a solid if unspectacular performance.
The second seed is yet to drop a set at Roland-Garros so far after her two wins and will face Magdalena Frech or Kamilla Rakhimova next in her bid for a second Grand Slam title of the year.
Sabalenka edged a tight first set by breaking late to avoid a tie-break, while two early breaks in the second set helped her on her way to a routine win in one hour and 27 minutes.
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Although she cut a frustrated figure at times, the Belarusian rarely looked in trouble and finished with 85% first-serve points won and 21 winners to her name.
“It was tough. She played great, and I’m happy that I managed to fight for every point no matter what,” Sabalenka said on court afterwards.
“I’m not happy with my game today, and I’ll be working on short balls and approach shots. I’ll work more now and be ready for the next game, even more ready than I was for today.”
The 25-year-old has struggled in Paris in previous years, never making it past the third round, but she’s among the favourites for the 2023 title after claiming the Madrid Open title earlier this month and the Australian Open in January.
The first five games all went to serve in a tepid start on Court Suzanne Lenglen, with not a single break point faced for either player in that time.
Sabalenka was playing predominantly behind the baseline and broke her compatriot for the first time to move 4-2 in front.
Shymanovich showed impressive resilience in the next game to capitalise on a double fault for the world No. 2 and an impressive forehand shot ensured she broke back to reduce the arrears to 4-3.
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The world No. 214 was playing some fine tennis and levelled the score up at 4-4 with a delightful backhand. After winning the next game to love, an impressive hold from Shymanovich saw her level the score again at 5-5.
Sabalenka held her service game to move 6-5 ahead and guarantee at least a first set tie-break with a more aggressive approach.
Shymanovich was refusing to go away and Sabalenka was using her forehand to full effect to keep her compatriot at bay. She showed impressive resilience to recover from 40-15 down, but squandered two set points in an absorbing 12th game which ebbed and flowed both ways.
But after 54 minutes, the second seed eventually drew first blood in the contest after Shymanovich played a backhand wide on her third set point.
Sabalenka got off to a strong start in the second as she claimed an early break, but Shymanovich showed she wouldn’t go down quietly as she broke straight back to end the Belarusian’s four-game streak.
However, she couldn’t consolidate the effort as the second seed broke for a third game in a row before making short work of a hold to go 4-1 up.
Sabalenka set up a triple match point on Shymanovich’s serve and pounced on the second to continue her Parisian progress with little fuss.
