PARIS.- The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and the American Coco Gauffnumber one and four in women’s tennis, avoided any trap and carried out their matches this Thursday in the second round of Roland Garros.
One day after the elimination of number two Elena Rybakina and with the Parisian tournament still shaking from the surprise fall of the men’s number one, Jannik Sinnerthe matches of these two favorites were especially under the microscope.
Sabalenka defeated the Frenchwoman in one hour and 35 minutes Elsa Jacquemot (67th) by 7-5 and 6-2, on the same court where Sinner had fallen shortly before in five sets against the Argentine Juan Manuel Cerúndolo.
Jacquemot worried Sabalenka at the start of the match, who little by little put the machinery into operation, until her walk in the second set.
Even Gauff, defending champion, had fewer problems, beating the Egyptian 6-3, 6-2. Mayar Sherif (129th).
The match was longer (1 hour and 50 minutes) because Sherif put up a fight in the first set with long games, which Gauff was able to solve.
In the third round, Sabalenka will face the Australian of Russian origin Daria Kasatkina (53rd), while Gauff will play against the British Katie Boulter (71st) or the Austrian Anastasia Potapova (30th).
Shelton also said goodbye
The American Ben Sheltonfifth player in the world, fell by surprise in the second round of Roland Garros when losing to the Belgian Raphael Collignon (62nd) this Thursday in Paris.
Shelton’s defeat was also clear, in three sets, 6-4, 7-5 and 6-4, in two hours and one minute and without the Atlanta tennis player achieving any break of serve.
This result leaves number six in the ATP ranking, the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassimeas the highest-ranking player in the upper half of the draw, who suffered a real earthquake this Thursday when the world number one, Sinner, was eliminated by the Argentine Juan Manuel Cerúndolo (56th).
Collignon, who last year had already reached the third round in a grand slamhe US Openwill face the Greek in the next round Stefanos Tsitsipas (79th) or Italian Matteo Arnaldi (104th).
For Shelton, this loss marks the first elimination before the third round in a Grand Slam since he lost in that third round in Wimbledon in 2023.
