PARIS: Second seed Aryna Sabalenka temporarily put her friendship with Spaniard Paula Badosa on the back burner to secure a hard-fought 7-5 6-1 third-round victory at the French Open on Saturday and keep alive her hopes of a maiden Roland Garros title.
The pair have enjoyed a strong bond since 2021 but there was no quarter given in a see-sawing first set as they swapped early breaks before Badosa attacked Sabalenka's powerful serve in the sixth game, edging ahead with a return that hit the net cord.
"It's tough to play your best friend. She's an incredible player coming back after injury and I'm pretty sure she's going to be back on top very soon," said Sabalenka, who improved her head-to-head record with Badosa to 5-2.
"On court we're opponents, I'm trying not to watch on the other side, just trying to focus on myself and just bring my best game, but anyway they're tough matches against her."
Spurred into action, the powerful Australian Open champion broke back and let out a scream that was met with cheers from fans on Philippe Chatrier court, before she recovered another loss of serve against her fellow 26-year-old.
Last year's semi-finalist hit a monster forehand to go up 6-5 and came up with a delightful backhand slice from the deep en route to closing out the opening set, as world number 139 Badosa reflected on her missed opportunities.
The former world number two, who has struggled with a back problem in recent years while Sabalenka captured two Grand Slam titles, got off to a disappointing start in the second set as her Belarusian opponent reeled off four games in a row.
Sabalenka produced a superb drop to set up match point and the knockout blow came in the form of an unforced error from the racket of the unseeded Badosa, but was quickly followed by a warm hug at the net.
Sabalenka, who is bidding to become the first player since Serena Williams in 2015 to claim the Australian Open and Roland Garros titles in the same season, next faces American 14th seed Madison Keys or 22nd seed Emma Navarro.
World number four Elena Rybakina continued to fly under the radar as she enjoyed a routine 6-4, 6-2 win over Belgium's Elise Mertens to ease into the fourth round.
Rybakina, a former Wimbledon champion, is looking to improve on her best performance of quarter-finalist on the Paris red clay, in 2021.
The Russian-born Kazakh lost her serve twice in the first set but maintained the upper hand by breaking all of the Belgian's remaining serves in the set.
Strong shots and better serving in the second set allowed the 24-year-old Rybakina to end the match in little over an hour.
In other third round matches of the day, Elina Avanesyan beat Qinwen Zheng 3-6, 6-3, 7-6, Varvara Gracheva beat Irina-Camelia Begu 7-5, 6-3, Mirra Andreeva beat Peyton Stearns 6-2, 6-1.
Russian fifth seed Daniil Medvedev beat Tomas Machac 7-6(4) 7-5 1-6 6-4 in an exhilarating clash under the roof on Court Suzanne-Lenglen to move into the last 16.
Machac was in the limelight last month when he stunned world number one Novak Djokovic in the Geneva Open semifinals for the biggest win of his career and he pushed Medvedev in a match lasting nearly three and a half hours.
There was little to separate the two in the opening set which went into a tiebreak where Machac produced one of the shots of the tournament that left Medvedev shell-shocked.
Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime reached the French Open last 16, setting up a match with Carlos Alcaraz after a dominant victory over Ben Shelton of the United States.
The 21st-seeded Canadian cruised to a 6-4, 6-2, 6-1 win against his 15th-ranked opponent in a match that was carried over from Friday.
Third seed Carlos Alcaraz sparkled and showed steely resolve in his most convincing match at the French Open this year for a 6-4, 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over American Sebastian Korda to reach the fourth round later on Friday.
Moreover, 11th seed Alexde Minaur beat Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3.
The 4th seed Alexander Zverev beat Tallon Griekspoor 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 in a thriller on Saturday to reach the fourth round.
Still wearing a compression sleeve after a recent forearm issue, Alcaraz produced a stellar show in a rematch of the duo's 2022 encounter to firmly put himself back in the conversation as the favourite to lift the title in Paris and a third major.
Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was defeated in the 2021 final, cruised past China's Zhang Zhizhen 6-3, 6-3, 6-1 to reach the fourth round for the sixth year in a row. Agencies
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