Sabalenka makes flying start to French Open campaign

PARIS: World number one Aryna Sabalenka dropped only one game as she beat Kamilla Rakhimova to get her French Open campaign under way in emphatic style.

Sabalenka needed just one hour to beat Russian Rakhimova 6-1 6-0 in Paris. The Belarusian ramped up her performance as the match went on, winning nine games in a row to close out the match.

Opening the first day’s play on Court Philippe Chatrier, Sabalenka served up five aces, hit 30 winners and broke her opponent’s serve five times on her way to a dominant victory under the roof. A three-time Grand Slam singles champion, Sabalenka has never reached the final of the French Open - her best performance a run to the semi-finals in 2023.

But on this evidence, the 27-year-old is justifying her tag as one of the tournament favourites. She could face Chinese eighth seed Zheng Qinwen - who beat 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-3 in her opening match - in the quarter-finals and three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek in the semis. Before then, Sabalenka will first have to beat Jil Teichmann for a place in the third round, after the Swiss player beat Italian qualifier Lucrezia Stefanini 6-4 6-4.

After romping to victory over Rakhimova, Sabalenka took photographs of her bags and the court with a polaroid camera - something which has become a tradition for her this season.

Asked about the camera by former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli in her on-court interview, Sabalenka said: “The idea was to take some good moments in my life - I started in December and I already have a pretty big album. “When I feel sad, I go through the album and remember the good moments, they give me good vibes.

“The album is full of my team, which is annoying sometimes but it is good fun.” Mboko, 18, impresses on Grand Slam debutElsewhere on day one, teenager Victoria Mboko reached round two on her Grand Slam debut with an impressive win over world number 45 Lulu Sun.

The 18-year-old from Canada came through qualifying without dropping a set, and maintained that impressive form to win 6-1 7-6 (7-4) against New Zealander Sun - who defeated Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon last July. Ranked 333 at the start of the year, this was Mboko’s 38th win of the season and she is now up to 120 in the world.

“I didn’t expect the whole thing, honestly,” she said. “I mean, even to be here and playing, even the quallies. I was so excited to be in a Grand Slam for the first ever time. “The whole thing is honestly kind of a surprise. I mean, now I’m here I feel like I can do something with it and make the most of it.”

Of the more established names, Ukrainian 13th seed Elina Svitolina cruised through her first match in just 72 minutes, winning 6-1 6-1 against Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey. But two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, competing in her first major since returning from maternity leave, was beaten 3-6 6-0 6-4 by Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland.