French Open: Sabalenka Cruises in Opener; Olympic Champion Zheng Qinwen Also Advances

Paris – Top seed Aryna Sabalenka made a dominant start to her French Open campaign on Sunday, dispatching Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1, 6-0 in just one hour on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

China’s Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen also advanced to the second round with a strong performance, defeating former Roland Garros finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in her opening match.

Sabalenka, the current World No. 1 and reigning US Open champion, arrived in Paris as the in-form player of 2025. She leads the tour with three titles this season, including a third Madrid Open crown, and now boasts an impressive 35-6 win-loss record.

In her first-round match, Sabalenka struck 30 winners—five of them aces—while limiting herself to just 17 unforced errors. Rakhimova, in contrast, managed only nine winners. The Belarusian faced just two break points, both in the second set, and saved them with clean winners. She converted five of 11 break-point opportunities on her opponent's serve.

Sabalenka will next face Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann, who defeated qualifier Lucrezia Stefanini 6-4, 6-4. Sabalenka won their only previous encounter 6-2, 6-1 in the third round of the 2022 Doha tournament.

In another match from Sabalenka’s section, Viktorija Golubic upset former World No. 2 Petra Kvitova 3-6, 6-0, 6-4 in 1 hour and 41 minutes. Kvitova, playing her first match at Roland Garros since 2023 and still seeking her first win at the event since 2022, struggled with consistency and tallied 45 unforced errors. Her comeback record since returning from maternity leave in February now stands at 1-5.

Meanwhile, in the opposite half of the draw, Zheng Qinwen, seeded No. 7, secured a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Pavlyuchenkova. With this win, Zheng has reached the second round at Roland Garros for the fourth straight year and extended her winning streak at the tournament to seven matches. She will next face either Alexandra Eala of the Philippines or Colombia’s Emiliana Arango.

With inputs from IANS