Aryna Sabalenka continues pursuit of first French Open title

The Belarusian top seed Aryna Sabalenka ripped through the first set in 29 minutes.

Aryna Sabalenka let her momentum drift at the start of the second set as two unforced errors and a double fault allowed Kasatkina to break in the opening game. The Australian then held to love as Sabalenka continued to miss.

The Belarusian took the next three games but faced greater resistance from Kasatkina.

At 5-5, with Kasatkina serving, Sabalenka reasserted her control. She raced to three match points and converted the second to win in one hour and 17 minutes, and become the ninth woman to win 100 matches while ranked No.1.

“I was happy in the tough moments I never gave up,” she said.

In the round of 16, Sabalenka will next face fellow four-time major winner Naomi Osaka.

Sabalenka has beaten the 16th-seeded Japanese star twice this season, but Osaka won their only meeting at a major, at the same stage in the 2018 US Open, a tournament she went on to win for the first of her four majors.