Aryna Sabalenka overcame a spirited performance from Paula Badosa to reach the last 16 of Roland Garros with a 7-5 6-1 win.
After trailing 4-2 in the opening set, Sabalenka cruised through with a display of power and tactical awareness.
Now Sabalenka awaits the winner of Madison Keys and Emma Navarro in the fourth round.
It was a competitive start as Badosa showed the kind of form that saw her reach a quarter-final in the past.
There was attacking intent as the Spaniard created angles to move Sabalenka off the court as Sabalenka looked visibly frustrated.
Badosa added to those frustrations as a lucky net cord secured the break and a 4-2 lead in the opening set.
However Sabalenka showed her champions qualities as she displayed resilience and power to take control of the rallies, putting Badosa on the back foot.
After working so hard to break back, Sabalenka committed errors and Badosa continued to take advantage as her aggressive play earned her another break of serve as she served for the opening set at 5-3.
However that was the moment that fine-tuned Sabalenka’s game as she went into another gear.
Four games in a row with Badosa seemingly running out of ideas against Sabalenka’s mixture of power and depth as the world number two roared her way to the opening set.
From then on there was no stopping the Australian Open champion as she cruised into a 4-0 lead with Badosa’s lengthy opening two rounds catching up to her here.
There was a consolation game for Badosa but she lacked the consistency and control to keep up with Sabalenka as the second seed progressed to the last 16 in Paris for a second year in a row.
After the match Sabalenka admitted that she knew she could come back into the match even if it wasn’t easy, “I just tried to play my best, play for every point,” Sabalenka was quoted by the BBC as saying.
“I knew I could come back and I enjoyed this incredible atmosphere. Thank you so much for making this stadium enjoyable to play in. Sometimes it is complicated to play, you have so many options. Today I didn’t think too much. I was feeling the game and trusting my game and going for the shots.”
Sabalenka will now look to reach a second Roland Garros quarter-final when she plays Madison Keys or Emma Navarro on Monday.
