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Paris | Seed upsets continue as Sabalenka and Rybakina advance on schedule

Paris | Schedule catch-up sees seeds tumble as Sabalenka and Rybakina sail on


There was some let-up in the Paris weather on Thursday that enabled a bumper schedule to complete the 2nd-round of the women’s draw between rain showers, including matches held over from Wednesday, much court switching, and 9 seeds being bumped out of contention over the course of a long Day 5 at the French Open. Alcohol was allowed until now in the stands – not in all the stands – that’s over. If anyone exceeds the limit, if anyone doesn’t behave well or if anyone throws things at the players, that’s it, they go out. Safety – it’s very clear – the instructions are given and there will be no hesitation. Amélie Mauresmo, French Open Tournament Director

There was no such trouble, though, for Aryna Sabalenka or Elena Rybakina, the No 2 and 4 seeds, playing under the comfort of the closed roofs on Courts Philippe-Chatrier and Suzanne-Lenglen, and who advanced with straight set wins over Moyuka Uchijima and Arantxa Rus respectively.

The inclement weather again held back the start of play on the outside courts for the third consecutive day before action got into full swing for part of the afternoon.

“It’s going to be a bit tricky today,” admitted Amélie Mauresmo, the tournament director. “So we’re keeping our fingers crossed.”

Sabalenka dominated Uchijima, a Japanese qualifier who was on a 14 match winning run at ITF level, 6-2 6-2, and was not broken throughout the match, although the Belarusian did have to save 4 break points.

Rybakina, the World No 4, was a 6-3 6-4 winner over Rus, the Dutchwoman who defeated 3-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber in the previous round, and the Kazakh was equally clinical in taking 3 of her 4 break point chances.

Uchijima, playing in the 2nd round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, could not cope with Sabalenka’s powerful serve and groundstrokes, as the World No 2 won 6 points in a row at the start of the match, and pounced on a break point with a fierce winner before taking the first set in 29 minutes.

Wearing a somber expression during the changeover ahead of the second, Uchijima found no answers to Sabalenka’s power, but showed her variety by approaching the net and playing some telling drop-shots.

Uchijima afforded herself a smile when she got the better of the Belarusian on a long rally to make it 4-2, but Sabalenka refocused to save a break point before taking the Japanese’s serve to seal the victory.

“It was definitely fun playing all those drop-shots. Super happy with the result, and I really enjoyed playing today,” said Sabalenka, who reached the semi-finals at Roland Garros last year, and has not dropped a set at a Grand Slam this year.

She next will face Paula Badosa, her close friend from Spain and her doubles partner this year in Paris.

“It’s always tough to play your friend,” Sabalenka said, “But we know how to separate court and life.”

Badosa is closing in on a return to the top 100 of the WTA Rankings after a battling 2nd-round win against Yulia Putintseva from Kazakhstan, who claimed the opening set but fell to the Spaniard’s fighting spirit, 5-7 6-1 6-4.

Once ranked as high as World No 2, Badosa fell to 139 in the rankings after repeated injury woes since the start of 2023, and has retired from 3 matches in 2024 due to a recurring back issue…