World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka overcame a shaky start on Wednesday evening to defeat Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann 6-3 6-1 and advance to the third round of Roland Garros.
The match began with promise for Teichmann, currently ranked No. 97, who came out swinging and immediately put Sabalenka on the back foot. Teichmann capitalized on her fourth break point to take a 2-1 lead, then confidently consolidated with a love hold to go up 3-1. Dressed in Head’s striking coral and white polka-dot ensemble, the Swiss lefty appeared poised to pose a real challenge.
But Sabalenka flipped the script. Despite three lengthy games that dragged through multiple deuces, she managed to win five consecutive games and eventually closed out the opening set on her fourth set point.
From there, it was all Sabalenka. She immediately broke to start the second set, signaling that Teichmann’s early momentum had fizzled. Teichmann did manage to snap Sabalenka’s streak that extended to nine consecutive games, visibly relieved and smiling as she got on the board again, but the outcome was never in doubt. Sabalenka quickly claimed the next two games to seal a confident straight-sets victory.
Next up, Sabalenka will face Serbia’s Olga Danilovic, who came through a tough three-setter against American Danielle Collins, winning 6-4 3-6 6-4 to reach the third round.
Sabalenka, dressed in the Nike Summer Slam Dress, added a patriotic touch to her outfit with mismatched shoelaces (green on one foot, red on the other), in homage to the Belarusian flag.
Earlier on Wednesday, defending champion Iga Swiatek extended her unbeaten streak at Roland Garros to 23 matches with a dominant 6-1 6-2 victory over Emma Raducanu in the second round.
