Aryna Sabalenka wins first night shift match at 2023 Roland Garros

We've finally got it, the first WTA night shift match at this year's Roland Garros (French Open) and it was a win for Aryna Sabalenka as she beat Sloane Stephens 7-6(5) 6-4.

Sabalenka played another solid match though she faced more trouble this time around than in any of the previous matches. Stephens is a former finalist in Paris so she knows how to play well at the event and for the most part she played really well. There is one thing that majorly troubled her and it was the serve of the Belarusian.

She kind of held her own in the rallies as long as she avoided some cheap errors but it was the serve that she couldn't handle at all. Sabalenka won so many points with her serve, particularly high-pressure points when she really needed it. In both sets, we saw Sabalenka have a lead break but both times she threw it away. Stephens forced a tiebreak in the opening set and it was a really close one which Sabalenka won 7-5.

Read also

2023 French Open Roland Garros ATP and WTA Prize Money and Points Breakdown with €49.6m on offer

The second set saw her take an early break and hold it for a while but then Stephens came back with a good chance to take a 5-4 lead. She had a 40-15 lead on her serve at 4-4 in the second set but then a few cheap errors gave Sabalenka a break point which she converted. Then she closed it out with a very confident serving game which allowed her to escape in two sets. This was a match that easily could have gone to the third set but Stephens fumbled it.

Read also

"It’s really brave from her": Svitolina thankful to Kasatkina for speaking out against her home country as Roland Garros tie approaches

Roland-Garros

@rolandgarros

·Follow

First Roland-Garros quarterfinal ✊ Next up: Svitolina #RolandGarros | @SabalenkaA

706

Reply

Copy link

Read 67 replies