French Open: Sabalenka starts strong, beats Kostyuk to enter second round

Aryna Sabalenka passed her French Open opening test with flying colours, defeating Ukrainian world No.39 Marta Kostyuk

Paris: No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka passed her French Open opening test with flying colours, defeating Ukrainian world No.39 Marta Kostyuk, 6-3, 6-2 to move into the second round, here on Sunday.

The win extends Sabalenka’s 2023 win-loss record to 30-5. She has reached at least the quarterfinals at seven of the eight tournaments she has contested before Roland Garros, and the final at five of them.

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The 25-year-old will next take the winner of the match between Panna Udvardy and Iryna Shymanovich.

Roland Garros is the only major at which the 25-year-old has yet to go past the third round, but she bolstered her clay-court credentials with a second title in Madrid three weeks ago.

The Australian Open champion has the opportunity of unseating Iga Swiatek at the top of the rankings this fortnight.