Sabalenka gets past Jacquemot after a tense first set and reaches the third round of Roland-Garros
Aryna Sabalenka continued her Roland-Garros campaign with a second-round victory in the women’s singles against France’s Elsa Jacquemot. According to the official tournament record, the top seed won 7:5, 6:2 on Court Philippe-Chatrier and needed one hour and 35 minutes to advance. The match had two distinct phases: in the first set, Jacquemot, with strong support from the Paris crowd, kept the balance for a long time and forced the favorite into more patient point construction, while in the second set Sabalenka took control more quickly and brought the encounter to a calmer close. In doing so, the world’s best tennis player, according to the WTA rankings, avoided a more dangerous scenario in which the home player, driven by the atmosphere from the stands, could have turned the match into a long and tactically more uncomfortable duel. The victory was not just a routine passage for the seed, but also confirmation that Sabalenka knows how to find a solution when the initial rhythm is not completely under her control.
The first set brought the home player’s strongest resistance
The central part of the encounter was the first set, in which Jacquemot showed why matches against home representatives on Roland-Garros’s big courts often carry additional weight. The French tennis player did not enter the match as the favorite, but in the opening stretch she managed to extend the rallies and force Sabalenka several times to return to her basic game plan. Instead of a quick separation by the top seed, the crowd watched a set in which an advantage could not be taken for granted, and every Jacquemot service game had both scoreboard and psychological value. Sabalenka nevertheless made the key step forward in the closing stage of the set, raised the intensity of her shots from the baseline and turned pressure into a 7:5 lead. Such an ending to the first set was decisive because it took away from the home player the most realistic opportunity to steer the match toward a more uncertain outcome.
According to the WTA report published after the match, it was precisely Sabalenka’s late surge in the first section that opened the way to the third round in Paris. Such an assessment describes the dynamic of the duel well, because the difference between the players was visible not only in shot power, but also in the way the top seed reacted when the set entered a sensitive closing phase. Jacquemot played bravely during that period, but to cause a surprise against a player of that profile she had to maintain an almost perfect level of concentration. Sabalenka, on the other hand, had more experience in managing big points and, at the key moments, found enough depth in her shots to push her opponent away from the baseline. After winning the first set, the balance of the match also changed, as the pressure increasingly shifted onto the French player.
The second set showed the difference in power and consistency
In the second set, Sabalenka imposed her game much more clearly. After surviving the more demanding first part of the encounter, she reduced the room for a Jacquemot comeback and more often entered points as the player who dictated the rhythm. The 6:2 score in the second section shows that the favorite managed to turn the initial tension into a controlled finish, without unnecessarily extending the match. For a player who expects increasingly difficult opponents in the second week of a Grand Slam tournament, such an outcome has additional value because it saves energy in a stage of the competition in which the load accumulates quickly. It was also important that Sabalenka did not allow the crowd’s support for Jacquemot to grow into additional scoreboard pressure.
The official Roland-Garros website states that the encounter was played on Court Philippe-Chatrier, the central stage of the Paris Grand Slam tournament. For Jacquemot, that meant playing in an environment that can give home players extra energy, but also create greater expectations. For Sabalenka, such a context was a test of mental stability, especially after the first set was not straightforward. Her ability to change the speed of the match after a tense opening was the most important difference between the players. In that sense, the 7:5, 6:2 victory seems more convincing than one might conclude only from the first games of the encounter.
Sabalenka is seeking in Paris the title she is still missing
Sabalenka entered Roland-Garros as the top seed and the leading player in the WTA rankings, and the official WTA profile states that in the 2026 season, before this part of the Paris tournament, she had three singles titles and a win-loss record of 27:3. Such a performance confirms that she did not arrive in Paris merely as one of the contenders, but as a tennis player whose every match is viewed through the question of whether she can finally reach the title on the clay courts of Roland-Garros. In her career she has already won the biggest trophies on other stages, but the Paris clay remains a special challenge because it demands a different combination of patience, movement and control of power. The victory over Jacquemot therefore also has the value of an early warning to her opponents: even when the start is not ideal, Sabalenka can find a path to a relatively secure finish. Such an ability often separates the main title contenders from players who depend on one perfect day.
Her style continues to be based on a powerful serve, an aggressive first shot after the serve and pressure from deep in the court, but in recent seasons the way she manages errors has also become increasingly important. On clay this is especially significant because points are more often longer, and opponents have more time to defend. Against Jacquemot, she did not have to play her best tennis throughout the entire encounter, but in the closing stage of the first set she showed enough calm to avoid complications. Such a pattern may be important in the rest of the tournament, especially against players who will try to slow the rhythm and force her to hit one extra shot. Roland-Garros rarely rewards raw power alone, and Sabalenka will have to continue combining aggression with control in the following rounds.
Jacquemot left the tournament with a good first set and an important home appearance
Elsa Jacquemot entered the match as the world No. 67 according to her official WTA profile, which also states that her career-best ranking is No. 53. The Frenchwoman won junior Roland-Garros in 2020, which makes her appearances in Paris particularly interesting to the home crowd and media. Although she did not manage to reach the third round against Sabalenka, the first set showed that she can keep pace with the best at least in parts of a match when she succeeds in imposing discipline and depth in the rallies. For a player of her profile, an encounter on Philippe-Chatrier against the top seed represents an experience that may have broader value than the result itself. At the same time, it is important to emphasize that the 7:5, 6:2 defeat does not erase the impression from the first set, in which Jacquemot showed competitive courage and the ability to remain in the match against a stronger opponent.
The WTA states in her profile that Jacquemot began playing tennis at the age of three and that, in the junior competition in Paris, she became the first French winner of Roland-Garros after Kristina Mladenovic in 2009. Such a detail explains why her development in France is followed with particular attention, although the transition from junior to senior tennis rarely proceeds in a straight line. Senior competition requires week-to-week stability, physical resilience and the ability to adapt to different playing styles. Against Sabalenka, it was visible that Jacquemot has shots with which she can create pressure, but also that against the highest-ranked players she has to maintain a high level for longer in order for the result to remain open. From her Paris appearance, however, she can still draw positive elements, especially from the way she used the crowd’s energy in the first set without completely losing her tactical structure.
The match was played in a week marked by heat and surprises
This year’s Roland-Garros is being played in conditions that have further emphasized the physical demands of the tournament. Several reports from Paris, including daily tournament reports, highlighted high temperatures during the first week, which on clay can change the speed of play and the behavior of the balls. In such circumstances, players must manage their energy carefully, and the early finish of the second set was important for Sabalenka for that reason as well. Grand Slam tournaments are not decided only by victories in individual matches, but also by the way favorites distribute their physical and mental expenditure across two weeks. If the hot conditions continue, the ability to shorten matches could become one of the more important factors in the fight for the closing stages.
The day at Roland-Garros was also marked by other results that changed the tone of the tournament. The Guardian stated in its live report that Sabalenka got past Jacquemot, while Coco Gauff also earned a second-round victory, and in the men’s part of the tournament there was a major surprise with the elimination of Jannik Sinner. Such a context further increases the importance of secure victories by seeds in the women’s draw. While the men’s competition opened space for new discussions about the favorites, in the women’s tournament Sabalenka and the other highly seeded players are trying to avoid early complications. The victory against a home representative therefore also had symbolic weight for the top seed: on a day full of possible traps, she did the job expected of her.
The third round brings a new test for the top seed
By reaching the third round, Sabalenka remains in the part of the draw in which a deep run is expected of her. According to the official tournament schedule and announcements after the second round, her next challenge will be to continue her path toward the second week of Roland-Garros, a stage in which pressure on the main contenders traditionally increases. The early rounds often serve to find rhythm, but for the top seed every lost set or extended match immediately becomes a subject of broader analysis. In that sense, the victory over Jacquemot fulfilled the basic objective: drama was avoided, and competitive continuity was maintained. Still, the first set showed that Sabalenka will have to be careful against players who can combine defense, changes in ball height and crowd support.
Roland-Garros announced a total prize fund of 61.723 million euros for 2026, according to figures reported by the ATP Tour in its overview of the tournament prize money. In the women’s and men’s singles competitions, the winners each receive 2.8 million euros, and reaching the third round already brings greater sporting and financial value than clearing the first hurdle. Still, for Sabalenka, money is secondary compared with the main goal: winning one of the few major trophies she is still missing. The road to that goal in Paris usually requires victories even on days when the game does not flow perfectly. The match against Jacquemot was exactly that kind of early test, uncomfortable enough to reveal weaknesses, but not so dangerous as to stop the world’s best player.
Sources:
- Roland-Garros – official match record for Aryna Sabalenka – Elsa Jacquemot in the second round of the women’s singles in 2026 (link)
- WTA – official profile of Aryna Sabalenka with current ranking, season record and biographical information (link)
- WTA – official profile of Elsa Jacquemot with ranking, biography and information about her junior title in Paris (link)
- The Guardian – live report from the fifth day of Roland-Garros 2026 with the results of Sabalenka, Gauff and other matches (link)
- ATP Tour – overview of Roland-Garros 2026 prize money by round and the total tournament amount (link)