World number one Aryna Sabalenka dominated her way into the French Open fourth round on Saturday, defeating Daria Kasatkina of Australia 6-0, 7-5 at Roland Garros in Paris.
The victory brought stability to a tournament that has seen major surprises over the past two days, including the exits of top seed Jannik Sinner and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
Sabalenka’s dominant performance sets up an exciting fourth-round matchup against Japan’s Naomi Osaka.
Playing under sunny skies on Court Suzanne Lenglen, Sabalenka quickly took control of the match. She captured the first five games using powerful baseline shots combined with accurate net play, then battled back from a 15-40 deficit to complete a first-set shutout.
Kasatkina, who was born in Russia but started competing for Australia last year, managed to break serve and hold in the second set, prompting enthusiastic “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie” cheers from supporters. However, those celebrations were short-lived.
A mistake by Kasatkina enabled Sabalenka to even the second set at 2-2. The four-time Grand Slam winner maintained her position throughout the set before increasing her aggression in the final games to close out the match.
The win marked Sabalenka’s eighth victory in their 10 career encounters.
