World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka breezed past Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima in straight sets on Thursday to reach the third round of the French Open.
Uchijima, playing in the second round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, could not cope with Sabalenka’s powerful serve and groundstrokes as she succumbed 6-2 6-2 to the second seed.
Sabalenka won six points in a row at the start of the match before Uchijima finally began to settle her nerves and won her opening service game.
But, at 3-2, Uchijima would be broken by the Belarusian, Sabalenka pouncing on a break point with a fierce winner before taking the first set in 29 minutes without dropping another game.
Uchijima wore a sombre expression during the changeover before the second set and she simply had no answers for the power of Sabalenka, who also played some telling drop shots.
The Japanese No 1 afforded herself a smile when she got the better of Sabalenka on a long rally to make it 4-2 in the second set, but the two-time Australian Open champion refocused to save a break point before breaking Uchijima’s serve once more to seal an emphatic victory.
Sabalenka will next face either Paula Badosa or Yulia Putintseva in the third round at Roland Garros.
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