Aryna Sabalenka Clinches First-Round Victory at 2024 Roland Garros, Defeating Erika Andreeva

In order to go to the second round of the 2024 Roland Garros tournament, Aryna Sabalenka defeated Erika Andreeva 6-1, 6-2 in the opening round.

Following the match, Sabalenka remarked, “It was a great match, great start for me.” “I believe I spent the entire game thinking about myself. I believe that’s what allowed me to play such excellent tennis.”

After defeating younger sister Mirra twice, the No. 2 seed was facing the elder Andreeva sister for the first time. She easily won the opening set and went on to win in 68 minutes at the Court Philippe-Chatrier.

“In these conditions I just prepare myself for long rallies and I’m not trying to hit bigger, because if you hit bigger it brings more unforced errors, which is not really something I’m looking to,” she remarked on the humidity on the court. “I’m just preparing myself mentally that it’s going to be longer points and it’s going to take more shots to finish the point.”

Last year at Roland Garros, Sabalenka achieved her best finish, reaching the semifinals and losing to eventual runner-up Karolina Muchova by just a single point. She had just finished a flawless clay-court season, making it to the finals of both the Mutua Madrid Open and the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, where she lost only to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, when she arrived in Paris this spring.

Sabalenka will probably face opponents like competitor Elena Rybakina because Swiatek is securely on the other side of the draw. Tuesday’s play on Court Suzanne-Lenglen began with Greet Minnen losing in straight sets to her predicted semifinal opponent and No. 4 seed.

Sabalenka had to first take on Andreeva, a 19-year-old who was playing in her first main draw at Roland Garros. Currently rated exactly No. 100, the 2021 junior Roland Garros runner-up cracked the Top 100 for the first time back in March when she won her maiden WTA 1000 match over American Ashlyn Kreuger.

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Naturally, Sabalenka proved to be a very different kind of opponent. The 26-year-old jumped off to a substantial lead right away in the match, breaking the service twice to reduce the number of victories in the opening set to seven unforced errors.

After a change of ends, Andreeva broke through to tie the second set at one game apiece. Nevertheless, Sabalenka showed no fear and won five of the last six games to guarantee her place in the second round in just over an hour. With three match points, Sabalenka overcame Andreeva to convert her third, and she finished the game with a skillfully placed drop shot.

One of the two qualifiers—Spain’s Irene Burillo Escorihuela or Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima—will be waiting for her in the following round.