Roland-Garros: Sabalenka advances to last 16, set to face longtime rival Anisimova

Aryna Sabalenka defeated Olga Danilovic 6-2, 6-3 on Friday

May 30, 2025

Roland Garros •Third round • Completed

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the top seed, defeated Serbia’s Olga Danilovic 6-2, 6-3 on Friday in the opening match on Court Philippe-Chatrier, advancing to the last 16 at Roland-Garros.

World No. 1 Sabalenka will next face American Amanda Anisimova, the No. 16 seed, who had booked her place in the fourth round just minutes earlier with a win over Denmark’s Clara Tauson.

Sabalenka continued her dominant form in Paris, following commanding victories over Russia’s Kamilla Rakhimova (6-1, 6-0) and Switzerland’s Jil Teichmann (6-3, 6-1) in the earlier rounds. Against Danilovic, she quickly established control, racing to a 5-0 lead in the first set as her opponent appeared completely overwhelmed.

Sabalenka served much better

Although Danilovic managed to settle into the match somewhat, she couldn’t keep pace with Sabalenka’s relentless pressure. Key statistics from the match highlight Sabalenka’s dominance

• Danilovic committed 26 unforced errors, overshadowing her 18 winners.
• She won 83% of her first-serve points, compared to Danilovic’s 59%.
• Sabalenka converted 4 of 7 break points, while Danilovic managed only 1 of 3.

This marks the end of a promising Roland-Garros run for the 21-year-old left-hander, ranked No. 34. Danilovic notched impressive wins over No. 27 seed Leylah Fernandez (6-3, 6-1) and American Danielle Collins (6-4, 3-6, 6-4) in the earlier rounds.

“Game-wise, Olga definitely has everything to be in top 20, top 10. It’s all about if mentally she’ll be ready to handle all of the pressure and she’ll be ready to stay there and fight. But game-wise, doesn’t matter what the score was, but it was a tough match. It was a fight. Yeah, I really think that she has everything to be in top 15 or 10”.

The next round will be a challenging one for Sabalenka, as Anisimova leads their head-to-head 5–2. Anisimova won their most recent encounter in Toronto in 2024, as well as three of their four matches on clay, including one at Roland-Garros in 2019. However, Sabalenka claimed their most recent clay-court meeting in Rome in 2022.

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