Roland Garros takeaways: Sabalenka settles in after early trouble to beat Teichmann
Top seed Aryna Sabalenka looked visibly frustrated on Court Suzanne-Lenglen just four games into her second-round match against Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann on Wednesday. After holding serve at love to start, she dropped the next three games, struggling to adjust to Teichmann’s variety of spins and speeds -- and soon found herself down 3-1, facing 0-30 on her own serve.
From then on, she did what champions do. Adjusted. She won 11 of the next 12 games in a 6-3, 6-1 triumph.
Roland Garros: Draws | Scores | 411
"She started really well and played her best game. It's always tricky against her," Sabalenka said after reaching the third round in Paris for the sixth year in a row. "Her variety is crazy. ... I was trying to find the rhythm and I'm glad I held my serve from 3-1 down. I got more energy. It was a tough match, she made me work for every point and I'm very happy for this win."
Read on for more highlights from Sabalenka's 1-hour, 19-minute triumph.
The power game takes over: By the end of the match, Sabalenka racked up 34 winners to 21 unforced errors. At the aforementioned point in the scoreboard when trailing, she had already made seven of those mistakes.
Two unreturned serves -- and a forehand winner off a nine-ball rally at 30-30 -- helped Sabalenka dig out of that key fifth game, a moment she pointed to as crucial.
"I couldn't really adjust to the ball. I didn't have my rhythm. I didn't really serve well. I mean, honestly, like, nothing worked well for me," she said. "That game gave me a lot of strengths to keep fighting, keep pushing. I'm super happy with the win.
"The scoreboard looks really easy, but it wasn't. She's tricky. She makes you work for every point and with a lot of running. I'm super happy that I found my rhythm in the middle of the first set and I kind of like stepped in and put a lot of pressure on her."
Teichmann back in the conversation: Despite the defeat, Teichmann should be able to take positives from this Roland Garros, he first Grand Slam main draw since 2023.
The former World No. 21, who reached the fourth round in Paris in 2022, was ranked outside the Top 200 at this time last year as a result of a dip in form and lingering injury. Her first-round win over qualifier Lucrezia Stefanini was her first main-draw win at a major since the 2023 Australian Open.
More to come...
