Image source, Getty Images
- Author, Amy Lofthouse
- Role, BBC Sport Senior Journalist
Aryna Sabalenka sent an ominous message to her rivals as she powered past Emma Navarro to reach the French Open quarter-finals.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka played with controlled aggression to complete a dominant 6-2 6-3 win over 22nd seed Navarro.
Belarusian Sabalenka lost to Navarro on the Indian Wells hard courts earlier this season, but she overwhelmed the American on the Paris clay.
She will face Mirra Andreeva in the last eight after the Russian teenager beat Moscow-born French player Varvara Gracheva 7-5 6-2.
Second seed Sabalenka could then face rival and good friend Elena Rybakina in the semi-finals, after the Kazakh comfortably beat Elina Svitolina earlier on Monday.
Fourth seed Rybakina struggled for rhythm but grew in confidence and quality to register a 6-4 6-3 win over the Ukrainian.
The former Wimbledon champion will face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini next after the 12th seed beat Russia’s Elina Avanesyan 4-6 6-0 6-1.
Sabalenka and Rybakina underline dominance
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Sabalenka and Rybakina are the two players expected to challenge two-time defending champion Swiatek for the title.
Rybakina is the only player left who has a positive head-to-head record against the Pole, while Sabalenka lost clay-court finals to Swiatek in Rome and Madrid in the lead-up to Paris.
However, Sabalenka showed great prowess in her impressive win over Navarro.
She broke at the first opportunity and reeled off four games in a row, dominating Navarro with her huge serve and easy power off the forehand.
Navarro looked overwhelmed and only really came to life when trailing by a set and a break, forcing Sabalenka to deuce from 40-0 up at 2-1.
Rather than being troubled, Sabalenka simply sent down back-to-back 114mph aces to hold, and she lost just two more games from that point.
“I was going into it wanting to fight for every point,” Sabalenka said.
“She is a tough opponent but I am happy to get through the match.”
A quarter-final against Andreeva is next for Sabalenka.
Aged 17 years and 27 days, Andreeva is the youngest female player to reach the last eight of the French Open since Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva achieved the feat at the age of 15 years and 288 days in 2005.
Andreeva has only dropped one set so far at the tournament after coming through against Gracheva, who took French nationality last year after qualifying under residency rules.
“When they were screaming ‘Varvara, Varvara, Varvara’, I imagined they were screaming my name and it really helped,” Andreeva said.
“It was tough to play against a French crowd but I’m happy that I managed to get through it.”
Andreeva has never previously appeared in the last eight of a Grand Slam and has lost emphatically in her two previous encounters with Sabalenka, including a straight-set defeat at the Madrid Open last month.
Rybakina was not quite as at ease as Sabalenka but found her rhythm to see off a tricky opponent in Svitolina.
She had lost her only previous meeting on clay against Svitolina in 2020 – but that was before she was a major champion and a permanent fixture in the world’s top five.
Rybakina struggled for consistency initially, with the two players trading breaks, before starting to move Svitolina around and attack the net more to see out the first set.
She let a commanding lead be briefly clipped during the second set, but her easy power and strong serving was enough to reach a second French Open quarter-final.
“I’m really happy with the performance – she is a great fighter,” Rybakina said.
“I am really proud of how I have improved in the last few years and I am happy to finally play under an open roof with good weather.”
‘My heart has to be big because I’m so small’
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Italian tennis is at a high point at the minute, with Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner leading the way.
On the women’s side, Paolini has had an impressive season, moving into the top 15 for the first time and reaching a first Grand Slam fourth round at the Australian Open.
She has now gone one step further in Paris, coming back from a shaky first set to beat Avanesyan, who knocked out seventh seed Zheng Qinwen in the previous round.
Paolini was 5-2 down in the first set and, although she ultimately lost it, she began to play more aggressively to overwhelm Avanesyan.
She won 16 of the final 19 games, hitting 20 winners in the final two sets alone to reach a first major quarter-final.
Asked afterwards about the “heart” she had shown to secure victory, the 5ft 4in (1.63m) Paolini joked: “It has to be big because I’m so small.
“I tried to have a better sensation on my racquet. I think it went well.”