4 impressive Aryna Sabalenka Grand Slam milestones after dominant Roland Garros opener
Aryna Sabalenka showcased her French Open title credentials with a dominant start to her Roland Garros campaign on Sunday.
It took Sabalenka exactly one hour to seal an emphatic 6-1, 6-0 victory over Kamilla Rakhimova inside Court Philippe Chatrier, breaking serve five times in a convincing display.
The Belarusian hit 30 winners compared to just 17 unforced errors and landed 80% of her first serves in play, rarely giving world No 78 Rakhimova a chance to play freely.
“I’m super happy to be back in Paris, I love playing in front of all you guys,” said the world No 1 on-court.
“I hope I can do really good here. It’s hard in round one to play someone you really like, but I’m happy to have got the win.”
Sabalenka will not return to court until Wednesday, with opening-round matches spread across three days at Roland Garros.
However, the 27-year-old has already hit some impressive milestones ahead of what she will hope proves a historic fortnight in the French capital.
One game dropped
As the world No 1, Sabalenka is the top seed at the French Open for the first time, and the nature of her win undoubtedly sends out a statement of intent to her main rivals.
The Belarusian’s 6-1, 6-0 triumph was the most one-sided victory for a top seed in the women’s singles draw in 12 years, following in the footsteps of Serena Williams.
Back in 2013, Williams defeated Anna Tatishvili 6-0, 6-1 to start her campaign in Paris and ultimately went on to lift the title; could that be a potential omen for Sabalenka?
Ten consecutive straight-set openers
Sabalenka has become ruthlessly efficient across the four Grand Slams when it comes to progressing through to the latter stages of the tournament.
And, she has found herself in very little trouble in opening-round major matches in recent years.
The three-time Grand Slam champion has now won her last 10 Grand Slam main-draw matches in straight sets, not dropping more than four games in a single set during that time.
The last woman to take a set off Sabalenka in the opening round of a Grand Slam match was Chloe Paquet at the 2022 French Open.
Paquet took the opener against Sabalenka three years ago, only for the Belarusian to roar back and seal a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 triumph.
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Eighteen straight round-one wins
Not only has Sabalenka extended a streak of straight-sets wins in the opening round of Slams, she has also extended her overall win streak at this stage of a major.
The Belarusian was beaten in round one of the 2020 Australian Open but has won 18 consecutive Grand Slam opening matches since then.
Seven straight French Open round one wins
Sabalenka was beaten in round one when she made her Roland Garros debut back in 2018, but has now one seven consecutive first-round contests in Paris.
That ranks her among the most consistent active players on the WTA, with only four women able to equal this record in 2025.
Those women are Iga Swiatek, Daria Kastakina, Elise Mertens, and Caroline Garcia.
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