Azarenka in 4th round for first time in eight years

Third seed Sabalenka knocked out

PARIS: Third seed Aryna Sabalenka crashed out of the French Open with a 4-6, 6-2, 0-6 third-round defeat to Russian 31st seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Friday, leaving the women's draw without its top three seeds at the claycourt Grand Slam.

After the exits of Ash Barty and Naomi Osaka, the Belarusian was the highest seed remaining this week in Paris but she failed to keep a leash on her unforced errors to lose to the experienced 29-year-old Russian.

Sabalenka got off to a rollicking start for a 3-0 lead but her unforced errors abruptly mounted and Pavlyuchenkova won six of the next seven games to bag the set.

The 23-year-old hammered a flurry of winners to take four games in a row to win the second set and level the match before Pavlyuchenkova went off the court for medical attention, returning with her left thigh heavily strapped.

Former world number one Victoria Azarenka reached the fourth round of the French Open for the first time since 2013 with a 6-2, 6-2 victory against American Madison Keys on Friday.

The Belarusian, who reached a career-best semi-final at Roland Garros eight years ago, was a doubt for the claycourt Grand Slam after withdrawing from the Madrid Open last month with back pain, but she has been solid so far.

"Right from the beginning I knew there would be a lot of intensity, heavy balls. I tried to be solid and put pressure on her so she cannot dictate the points," the 15th seed said in a courtside interview.

"I just kept that. I did my routines before the match. Then when I was on the court, I just felt the ball perfectly. I felt like I could do anything with it. So I am pretty happy that I had this attitude right now," she added.

No.21 seed Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and unseeded 23-year-old Slovenian Tamara Zidansek too secured places in in the pre-quarterfinals for the first time, albeit in contrasting fashion.

Elena smashed 12 aces and struck 26 winners to crush Russian Elena Vesnina 6-1, 6-4 while Tamara overcome nerves and a first-set whitewash to defeat Czech Republic's world No.68 Katerina Siniakova 0-6, 7-6(5), 6-2 in one hour and 57 minutes.

Defending champion Iga Swiatek and fourth-seeded Sofia Kenin resumed normal course by winning their second round matches to cruise into third round later on Thursday.

Swiatek dispatched Rebecca Peterson of Sweden, 6-1, 6-1 in one hour and one minute to progress while Kenin beat American compatriot Hailey Baptiste 7-5, 6-3.

Poland's Swiatek was emphatic in her win over her Swedish rival, winning 80 percent of her first service points, getting 15 break-points and ending up winning six of those.

She also won 30 of the receiving points. "From the beginning, I felt like I had a good day today since I woke up, so I knew that, you know, I am going to be in the right mood," the world No. 8 Swiatek said in her post-match press conference.

Swiatek will face 30th seed Anett Kontaveit of Estonia in her next round. Agencies

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