Sabalenka loses only one game in Paris opener

Aryna Sabalenka reached the Australian Open final in January, losing in three sets to Madison Keys

French Open 2025

Dates: 25 May-8 June Venue: Roland Garros

Coverage: Live radio commentaries across 5 Live Sport and BBC Sounds, plus live text commentaries on the BBC Sport website and app

World number one Aryna Sabalenka dropped only one game as she beat Kamilla Rakhimova to get her French Open campaign under way in emphatic style.

Sabalenka needed just one hour to beat Russian Rakhimova 6-1 6-0 in Paris.

The Belarusian ramped up her performance as the match went on, winning nine games in a row to close out the match.

Opening the first day's play on Court Philippe Chatrier, Sabalenka served up five aces, hit 30 winners and broke her opponent's serve five times on her way to a dominant victory under the roof.

But it wasn't quite so simple for fourth seed Jasmine Paolini, who survived a big scare to seal her place in the second round.

The Italian recovered from a break down in the final set to inch past world number 87 Yuan Yue 6-1 4-6 6-3.

A three-time Grand Slam singles champion, Sabalenka has never reached the final of the French Open - her best performance a run to the semi-finals in 2023.

But on this evidence, the 27-year-old is justifying her tag as one of the tournament favourites.

She could face Chinese eighth seed Zheng Qinwen - who beat 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-3 in her opening match - in the quarter-finals and three-time defending champion Iga Swiatek in the semis.

Before then, Sabalenka will first have to beat Jil Teichmann for a place in the third round, after the Swiss player beat Italian qualifier Lucrezia Stefanini 6-4 6-4.

After romping to victory over Rakhimova, Sabalenka took photographs of her bags and the court with a polaroid camera - something which has become a tradition for her this season.

Asked about the camera by former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli in her on-court interview, Sabalenka said: "The idea was to take some good moments in my life - I started in December and I already have a pretty big album.

"When I feel sad, I go through the album and remember the good moments, they give me good vibes.

"The album is full of my team, which is annoying sometimes but it is good fun."

Paolini prevents day one upset

Jasmine Paolini won the Olympic doubles title at Roland Garros last year

Paolini, runner-up at both the French Open and Wimbledon last year, was made to work for her win over China's Yuan on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

The Italian was broken at 2-2 in the final set but recovered superbly to take the next four games by winning 16 of the match's final 19 points.

The 29-year-old world number four is one of the favourites for this year's tournament having won the Italian Open title last week.

Last season she reached her maiden Grand Slam final at Roland Garros where she was beaten by Iga Swiatek.

Her opponent Yuan, 26, was three games away from advancing to the second round of a Grand Slam for only the second time.

"It was tough. For me it was so-so. A little bit of nerves and emotions came out," Paolini said on court after her win.

"I fight until the end, 3-2 down with a break but I did it."

Paolini's next opponent will be one of Australian duo Maya Joint or Ajla Tomljanovic.

Mboko, 18, impresses on Grand Slam debut

Elsewhere on day one, teenager Victoria Mboko reached round two on her Grand Slam debut with an impressive win over world number 45 Lulu Sun.

The 18-year-old from Canada came through qualifying without dropping a set, and maintained that impressive form to win 6-1 7-6 (7-4) against New Zealander Sun - who defeated Emma Raducanu at Wimbledon last July.

Ranked 333 at the start of the year, this was Mboko's 38th win of the season and she is now up to 120 in the world.

"I didn't expect the whole thing, honestly," she said. "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.

"The whole thing is honestly kind of a surprise. I mean, now I'm here I feel like I can do something with it and make the most of it."

Of the more established names, Ukrainian 13th seed Elina Svitolina cruised through her first match in just 72 minutes, winning 6-1 6-1 against Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey.

Diana Shnaider, the 11th seed, also progressed to round two by beating Ukraine's Anastasiia Sobolieva 7-6 6-2. The Russian will face Sobolieva's compatriot, Dayana Yastremska, next.

But two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, competing in her first major since returning from maternity leave, was beaten 3-6 6-0 6-4 by Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland.