Roland-Garros: Sabalenka still cruising on the court, drops only four games to Rakhimova

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, won against Russian Kamilla Rakhimova 6-2, 6-2 to move into the last 16 of Roland-Garros in Paris on Friday afternoon.

Sabalenka, ranked No 2, will face the winner of the match between American Sloane Stephens and Kazakh Yulia Putintseva next.

Another day, another dominant performance from @SabalenkaA

Watch the highlights of her third round victory over Rakhimova#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/XHV0kk0VjP

— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 2, 2023

The Belarusian has now won 10 matches in a row at the Grand Slams after winning the Australian Open in January and could become world No 1 at the end of this event if she wins or if Iga Swiatek, the current No 1, goes out early in the tournament.

Ahead of her victory, the Belarusian defeated Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (6-3, 6-2) and qualifier Iryna Shymanovich (7-5, 6-2). Rakhimova, ranked No 82, beat Czech qualifier Sara Bejlek (6-0, 6-3) and Pole Magdalena Frech (6-3, 6-4) earlier in the tournament.

Other third-round matches (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 49,600,000)

• Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova beat Anastasia Potapova (24): 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
• Elise Mertens (28) beat Jessica Pegula (3): 6-1, 6-3
• Daria Kasatkina (9) beat Peyton Stearns: 6-0, 6-1
• Olga Danilovic vs. Ons Jabeur
• Iga Swiatek vs. Xinyu Wang
• Bianca Andreescu vs. Lesia Tsurenko
• Elisabetta Cocciaretto vs. Bernarda Pera
• Anna Karolina Schmiedlova vs. Kayla Day
• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Beatriz Haddad Maia
• Mirra Andreeva vs. Coco Gauff
• Elena Rybakina vs. Sara Sorribes Tormo
• Karolina Muchova vs. Irina-Camelia Begu
• Sloane Stephens vs. Yulia Putintseva
• Anna Blinkova vs. Elina Svitolina
• Clara Tauson vs. Elina Avanesyan

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