Roland-Garros: Sabalenka ends Uchijima’s 19-match winning streak to reach third round
The Belarusian will face the winner of the match between Spaniard Paula Badosa and Kazakh Yulia Putintseva in the next round
Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, won against Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima 6-2, 6-2 to reach the third round of Roland-Garros in Paris on Thursday.
“I’m super happy with my performance today. Happy to get this win. It was just incredible atmosphere out there. I was really enjoying every minute being there,” the Belarusian said in her post-match press conference.
“We know how to separate court and life” – Sabalenka on facing Badosa next
Sabalenka, ranked No 2, will face former world No 2 and close friend Paula Badosa in the third round.
“It’s always tough to play your friend, your really best friend on tour, I would say. It’s always tough, but we know how to manage that,” Sabalenka said. “We know how to separate court and life. So it’s always great battle, great fight against her. I always enjoy playing against her. So we kind of, like — we’re good to separate things.”
The Belarusian beat Russian Erika Andreeva (6-1, 6-2) ahead of her victory.
In the previous round, Uchijima, ranked No 83, won against Spanish qualifier Irene Burillo Escorihuela (6-1, 6-1).
Paris (Grand Slam), other second-round matches (Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 53,478,000):
- Victoria Azarenka vs. Mirra Andreeva
- Hailey Baptiste vs. Jasmine Paolini
- Anna Kalinskaya vs. Bianca Andreescu
- Madison Keys vs. Mayar Sherif
- Peyton Stearns vs. Daria Kasatkina
- Varvara Gracheva vs. Bernarda Pera
- Ana Bogdan vs. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova
- Irina-Camelia Begu vs. Linda Noskova
- Elina Avanesyan vs. Anna Blinkova
- Qinwen Zheng vs. Tamara Korpatsch
- Jelena Ostapenko vs. Clara Tauson
- Cristina Bucsa vs. Elisabetta Cocciaretto
- Katie Volynets vs. Marketa Vondrousova
- Jana Fett vs. Marie Bouzkova
- Leylah Fernandez vs. Xiyu Wang
- Liudmila Samsonova vs. Amanda Anisimova
- Sara Errani vs. Emma Navarro
- Elise Mertens vs. Petra Martic
- Elina Svitolina vs. Diane Parry
- Danielle Collins vs. Olga Danilovic: thursday
- Arantxa Rus vs. Elena Rybakina: thursday
- Paula Badosa vs. Yulia Putintseva: thursday
- Dayana Yastremska (30) beat Yafan Wang: 6-2, 6-0
- Katerina Siniakova vs. Chloe Paquet: thursday
- Donna Vekic vs. Marta Kostyuk: thursday
- Xinyu Wang vs. Viktoriya Tomova: thursday
- Anastasia Potapova beat Viktorija Golubic: 6-2, 6-2
- Coco Gauff (3) beat Tamara Zidansek (Q): 6-3, 6-4
- Iga Swiatek (1) beat Naomi Osaka: 7-6 (1), 1-6, 7-5
- Ons Jabeur (8) beat Camila Osorio: 6-3, 1-6, 6-3
- Sofia Kenin beat Caroline Garcia (21): 6-3, 6-3