Sabalenka, Medvedev advance at French Open

ANNE-CHRISTINE POUJOULAT/ AFP

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka breezed past Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima 6-2 6-2 under the roof on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Thursday to move into the French Open third round.

Uchijima, playing in the second round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, could not cope with Sabalenka's powerful serve and groundstrokes.

The Belarusian wrapped up victory in 62 minutes and will next face her good friend Paula Badosa in the third round.

While most matches on the outer courts were suspended due to rain once again, Sabalenka said she was fortunate to be among the top seeds which guarantees matches under the roof if required.

Fourth seed Elena Rybakina made a sluggish start before beating Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus 6-3 6-4 to reach the third round, while Ukrainian 15th seed Elina Svitolina beat Frenchwoman Diane Parry 6-4 7-6(3).

In the men's competition, Bulgarian 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov crushed Fabian Marozsan 6-0 6-3 6-4 to reach the third round as matches on outer courts and Court Simonne-Mathieu resumed after rain had stopped play.

Elsewhere, fifth seed Daniil Medvedev advanced to the third round after opponent Miomir Kecmanovic retired due to injury. Russian Medvedev was leading 6-1 5-0.

 

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