French Open:

Sabalenka and Rybakina stroll into the quarter-finals

Aryna Sabalenka, the number two seed at the French Open, easily reached the quarter-finals in Paris on Monday. The Belarusian defeated the American Emma Navarro 6:2, 6:3 in the round of 16. The Australian Open winner, who is now unbeaten in eleven Grand Slam matches in a row, overwhelmed Navarro above all with her strong baseline play. Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina from Kazakhstan beat Elina Svitolina from Ukraine 6:4, 6:3.

Navarro had surprised Sabalenka in Indian Wells in March and eliminated her in the round of 16, but this time the number 22 seed had no chance. The US American's first two service games fell prey to Sabalenka, who completed the set win in 30 minutes. The world number two also managed an early break in the second set, after which she left nothing to chance.

Rybakina reached her second quarter-final at the French Open. After a slow start with losses of serve on both sides, the Russian-born player, the number four at the second Grand Slam tournament of the year, raised her level and didn't really give Svitolina a chance.

Meeting in the semifinals?
There could be a direct clash between Sabalenka and Rybakina in the semi-finals. However, the two still have to overcome their quarter-final hurdles. Rybakina will face Italy's Jasmine Paolini, who halted the unseeded Russian Elina Awanesjan's run of success with a 4:6, 6:0, 6:1. Sabalenka will face either Varvara Gracheva from France or the 17-year-old Russian Mirra Andreyeva.