Quick and effective: Sabalenka races into French Open second round

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Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 26, 2026 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after winning her first round match against Spains's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 26, 2026 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka in action during her first round match against Spains's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 26, 2026 Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka celebrates after winning her first round match against Spains's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro REUTERS/Stephane Mahe
Tennis - French Open - Roland Garros, Paris, France - May 26, 2026 Spains's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in action during her first round match against Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

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PARIS, May 26 : World number one Aryna Sabalenka blazed through her opening round at the French Open as she brushed aside Spain’s Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-4 6-2 on Tuesday.

Sabalenka raced to a 4-0 lead on a sun-kissed Court Philippe Chatrier before unforced errors crept into her game, which allowed her opponent to pull two breaks back and serve for 5-5.

A double fault, however, handed the top-seeded Belarusian the first set and she opened up a 5-0 advantage in the second.

Bouzas Maneiro got to survive another couple of games when she held and then broke for 5-2 but a double fault gave Sabalenka a routine win.

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“That’s the most enjoyable part of the game that I can come to the net to play points there, it’s so much fun,” last year’s runner-up Sabalenka said.

“I’m so happy I was able to improve on that part of the game and bring it on court.”

Source: Reuters

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