The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenkanumber 2 in the world, ended the resistance of the Spanish Paula Badosa and qualified for the round of 16 at Roland Garros for the second consecutive year, 7-5 and 6-1 in 1 hour and 17 minutes.
The Catalan, 139 in a ranking in which she was number two, fought during the first set, when even He had a service to score the set with 5-4but at that moment came the reaction of the winner of the last two Australian Opens, who had seven consecutive games.
The morale of Badosa, who reached the third round after making two brilliant comebacks, suffered and faced with the solid finalist of the recent tournaments in Madrid and Rome, he could not react.
The Spaniard was on the verge of reaching the round of 16, which she has played twice at Roland Garros, in 2020, when she reached them from the qualifying phase, and the following year, when her journey stopped in the quarterfinals. The conclusions drawn from his participation in this edition are positivetaking into account where he comes from and the back injury that even endangers his career: “I’m not at my best tennis yet, but I’m on the right track. I’m trying every week. Now I’m winning games, in Rome I lost against the three in the world, today against the two. I go step by step, knowing that miracles do not exist. I wish I could get there and get into the semifinals, but this is a long process and I am going to try to enjoy it to the fullest,” she assured.
Friends off the court, Badosa and Sabalenka starred in a brilliant duel, but Minsk won, as she did this year in the Miami tournaments and, more recently, Stuttgart, where the Spaniard had to withdraw due to her back problem . Badosa explained why she gets along so well with Sabalenka: “She is someone very natural, honest and on the court she is very intense, she is very passionate. We need tennis players who have charisma, on and off the court. She is someone nice, simple. She always tries to help everyone. There are players on the circuit who inspire others. That’s why we are good friends. I think that even if he wins ten more Grand Slams he will still be as he is, someone extraordinary”.
Sabalenka also had good words for Badosa and did not doubt that “he will soon return to the top.”
With the fall of Paula, Spain now has only one representative in the round of 16 of the individual draws, Carlos Alcaraznumber 3 in the world, who this Sunday will face the Canadian Félix Auger-Aliassime.
