TENNIS: Top seed Sabalenka survives first set wobble to beat Jacquemot

PARIS — Top seed Aryna Sabalenka overcame a first-set scare to beat France's Elsa Jacquemot 7-5, 6-2 on Thursday and move into the French Open third round.

The Belarusian, last year's losing finalist, was made to work hard for about an hour, with the local hero delighting home fans with several spectacular winners. A four-time Grand Slam champion, Sabalenka is still looking to land her first French Open title.

The world number one earned an early break with a powerful forehand to go 3-1 up, but Jacquemot broke straight back. On a day when the men's world number one Jannik Sinner crashed out in five sets to Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Sabalenka had to dig deep in the first set against the world number 67.

Sabalenka had a set point at 5-4 on Jacquemot's serve, but the French player, who had the crowd on their feet at times, managed to match Sabalenka's power with superb precision and level the score.

However, Sabalenka grabbed a break at the start of the second set and raced to a 3-0 lead, giving Jacquemot, who was quickly running out of steam, no chance of a comeback.

Sabalenka will next face Australia's Daria Kasatkina.

- Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Clare Fallon/Reuters