The Belarusian won her round of 16 against the American in one hour and forty-two minutes of play (7-6, 6-4). She will face Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the next round.
Aryna Sabalenka continues her faultless, but for the very first time of the fortnight, the world number 2 was really shaken up. The Belarusian qualified for the quarter-finals of Roland-Garros on Sunday June 4, beating the American Sloane Stephens in straight sets (7-6, 6-4) in the round of 16, after having led 5- 0 in the first run. But unlike the first three rounds, Sabalenka did not have a walk in the park. More of a roller coaster of emotion.
After beating Marta Kostyuk in the 1st round in 1h11 (6-3, 6-2), Iryna Shymanovich in the 2nd in 1h27 (7-5, 6-2) and Kamilla Rakhimova in the 3rd in 1h07 (6-2, 6-2 ), Sabalenka appeared to be heading for another quick win over Stephens. After only 17 minutes of play in the first set, the Belarusian was already leading 5-0 against the American. A speed that upset some spectators present in the stands of the Philippe-Chatrier court, who came to attend this first female night-session of the fortnight.
40 unforced errors for Sabalenka
But in reality, Sabalenka fell on a bone. Stephens, 30th in the WTA rankings and unfortunate finalist at Roland-Garros in 2018, then woke up to go up five games to her opponent. It was in the tie-break and on Sabalenka’s fifth set point that the American finally cracked on an unforced error. Unforced errors, the Belarusian made a lot of them in this match (40 in total, against 19 for his opponent).
The world number 2, favorite with Iga Swiatek to win the tournament, was annoyed throughout the match after technical errors on harmless shots. This did not prevent him from winning the match on his first match point. While she had never passed the 3rd round at Roland-Garros, Sabalenka will now discover the quarter-finals. She will face Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, who fell earlier in the day against Russian Daria Kasatkina (6-4, 7-6).
The 25-year-old world number 2 will approach this meeting as a favorite. A match between a Ukrainian and a Belarusian who will be scrutinized, Sabalenka having been incited by Kostyuk to “position personally“against the war waged by Russia with the help of his country. For the second time in a row, Sabalenka did not go to a press conference, anticipating very likely questions from journalists on the subject.