Sabalenka’s first-day warning as Canada teen wows Paris

[Pelican Press 0]

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Sabalenka’s first-day warning as Canada teen wows Paris

Roland Garros has embraced a new young star in the shape of 18-year-old ********* comet Victoria Mboko on the day world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka launched her French Open title bid in emphatic style.

There was a crushing inevitability about the way Sabalenka demolished Russian Kamilla Rakhimova 6-1 6-0 in just an hour on Court Philippe Chatrier on opening Sunday but much more uncertainty about how Mboko, who’d stormed through qualifying without dropping a set, might fare on her grand slam debut.

It turned out she was as good as the notices had promised.

Mboku, whose parents fled to Canada to escape the Mobutu regime in the Democratic Republic of Congo before she was born, looked nerveless in her 6-1 7-6 (7-4) win over New Zealander Lulu Sun, who had enjoyed her own breakthrough at Wimbledon last year.

The world No.333 at the start of 2025, Mboko’s up to 120 and rising, having taken luminaries like Coco Gauff and Paula Badosa to three sets this season already.

“I didn’t expect the whole thing, honestly,” Mboko, who’ll meet ******* No.1 Eva Lys in the second round, told reporters.

“I mean, even to be here and playing even the quallies, I was so excited to be in a grand slam for the first ever time.

.”It’s honestly kind of a surprise. I mean, now ‘m here, I feel like I can do something with it and make the most of it,”

Last year’s finalist Jasmine Paolini, fresh from her Italian Open triumph, had a bit of a rude shock when China’s Yue Yuan took the second set of their battle, but one of the tournament favourites responded to prevail 6-1 4-6 6-3.

The last time Zheng Qinwen had been at Roland Garros, she was having a singles gold medal draped round her neck at the Olympics, and the ever-improving *********** Open finalist looks in the mood for more glory as she made light work of a tough opener against former finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, prevailing 6-4 6-3.

Eleventh seed Diana Shnaider had a worrying moment when she injured her ankle and sat on the court sobbing, but she battled through the problem to defeat Ukrainian qualifier Anastasiya Soboleva 7-6 (7-3) 6-2.

Perhaps the most high-profile victim of the day was double Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova, who secured her first win since her maternity break at the Italian Open but couldn’t get over Swiss Viktorija Golubic, who won 3-6 6-0 6-4.

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