(Provided by Tennis World USA)
Aryna Sabalenka admitted she wasn’t happy with her game against world No 214 Iryna Shymanovich in the French Open second round. Sabalenka, seeded at No 2, struggled against Shymanovich but still escaped with a 7-5 6-2 win over the Belarusian qualifier.
When asked about her game after the match, Sabalenka admitted she wasn’t really happy about her performance and revealed she was planning to do some work on the practice court. “I’m not really, like, happy with my game today so probably I’m going to work on short balls and approach shots…
I’ll just work a little bit tomorrow and make sure I’m ready for the next one a little bit better than I was ready today,” Sabalenka said.
Sabalenka escaped with a straight-set win over Shymanovich
Shymanovich, 25, wasn’t given much of a chance to beat Sabalenka.
But Shymanovich made the match tougher for Sabalenka than expected. The first break of the match was seen in the sixth game, when Sabalenka broke Shymanovich. But Sabalenka’s lead was short-lived as Shymanovich got the break back immediately in the seventh game.
After blowing her first break, Sabalenka was able to keep her composure and break Shymanovich again in the 11th game before serving out for the first set in the 12th game. In the second set, Sabalenka broke Shymanovich in the second game but the 25-year-old qualifier got the break back in the third game.
However, blowing an early second-set break didn’t impact Sabalenka, who responded by claiming back-to-back breaks in the fourth and sixth games to complete a two-set win. “Super happy to get this win. I think the first set I didn’t play my best, and I’m super happy that no matter what I was able to stay calm and I was able to fight for every point to get this win,” Sabalenka also said. Sabalenka plays either Magdalena Frech or Kamilla Rakhimova in the French Open third round.
