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Sabalenka overcomes the undertones to advance at French Open

By Paul Myers - RFI
France  Pierre Ren-WormsRFI
MAY 28, 2023 LISTEN
© Pierre René-Worms/RFI

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka moved into the second round at the French Open on Sunday after a 6-3, 6-2 dismissal of the unseeded Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk.

Kostyuk, who has family in war-torn Ukraine, refused to shake hands with her Belarusian opponent following her defeat.

The snub led to jeers and boos from the spectators on centre court. "I didn't expect it,” she said after the 71-minute match.

“People should be honestly embarrassed."
Kostyuk has been calling for the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian players since the Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered his country's forces into Ukraine via Belarus.

"I understand why they are not shaking hands with us," said Sabalenka. "I can imagine if they are going to shake hands with us ... and then what's going to happen to them from Ukrainian side? So I understand that. And I understand that this is not kind of like personal."

Goal
Sabalenka, 25, who could become world number one at the end of the tournament, will play compatriot Iryna Shymanovich for a place in the third round.

Elsewhere in the lower half of the women's draw, there was a surprise as the eighth seed Maria Sakkari lost to Karolina Muchova. The 26-year-old Czech beat the 2021 semi-finalist 7-6, 7-5.

In the men's draw, Sakkari's compatriot Stefanos Tsitsipas battled for just over three hours to see off the unseeded Czech Jiri Vesely.

Tsitsipas, who lost the 2021 final to Novak Djokovic, struggled for fluency throughout the match.

Chance
Vesely served for the first set at 5-4 up but fluffed his lines and allowed the fifth seed to level at 5-5. Tsitsipas surged to take the opener 7-5 after 48 minutes.

One break was needed for the Greek to secure the second set 6-3. But he lost the third and he fought off three consecutive set points in the fourth set tiebreaker.

Vesely squandered a fourth before Tsitsipas exploited his first match point to advance.

"Jiri is capable of beating anyone on the circuit," said Tsitsipas during his on-court interview.

"He gave me a really hard time but I was really happy with how I was able to bounce back from all the difficult moments."

Eleventh seed Karen Khachanov came from two sets down to beat the local hero Constant Lestienne who, at 31, was playing in the main draw at the French Open for the first time.

"It's frustrating," said Lestienne of the calf injury that flared up during the third set.

"But that's part of me," he added. "That's part of my career. I've had a lot of physical problems. I'm not like all of these machines that manage to play one match after the other, but that's the way it's always been for me.

"So, yes, it's difficult to deal with, but I stay positive. It was my first Roland Garros, and it was a wonderful time."

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