World number 1 Aryna Sabalenka logically defeats Elsa Jacquemot in the second round of Roland-Garros

Even against a bad-day Aryna Sabalenka, the step was too high. Elsa Jacquemot was dominated by the world number 1 in two sets (7-5, 6-2), Thursday May 28 in the second round of Roland-Garros. There is only one Frenchwoman left in the women’s draw: Diane Parry, qualified for the third round after her success against top seed Ann Li two hours earlier on the Philippe-Chatrier court.

As usual, Aryna Sabalenka made and broke the game, interspersing her unstoppable attacks with gross errors (45 winning shots and 31 unforced errors). She regularly seemed frustrated, was not imperious on her throws, but ended up converting the obvious power differential into victory, not without difficulty.

Elsa Jacquemot nevertheless sold her skin dearly. After missing two opportunities to break at the start of the first set, then having her own throw in play stolen, the Frenchwoman took advantage of Aryna Sabalenka still in training to get back together and offer a very competitive first set. The 67th in the world also varied the game with audacity and a certain success, distilling some well-felt cushioning shots.

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But while the public began to believe in an improbable elimination of the world number 1, a few hours after the failure of her male counterpart on the same court, the Belarusian raised her voice to obtain victory in the first round, which lasted almost an hour. After three break points saved at the start of the second set, the outgoing finalist of the French Open finally found her cruising rhythm, and took advantage of a slight decline from Elsa Jacquemot, punished on her second balls that were too soft (71% of points lost on her second service). The Frenchwoman delayed the deadline one last time, deciding at 5-1, before losing on her throw-in.

Lacking confidence when entering the Paris fortnight, eliminated in the second round in Rome, Aryna Sabalenka moves on to the third round without completely reassuring herself. She will face, for a good test, Daria Kasatkina (53rd in the world), semi-finalist at Roland-Garros in 2022.