Grand Slam winners Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka reached the fourth round of the French Open in straight sets on Saturday.
Former Wimbledon champion Rybakina, seeded fourth, defeated Elise Mertens of Belgium 6-4, 6-2. Two-time Australian Open champion Sabalenka, seeded second, followed with a 7-5, 6-1 win against Paula Badosa.
“It’s tough to play against your best friend,” Sabalenka said.
After trailing 5-3 in the first set, Sabalenka won eight straight games to take control.
“I was just feeling myself and trusting my shots,” Sabalenka said.
Badosa emphasized that their friendship does not affect their performance on the court.
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Sabalenka’s best performance at Roland Garros has been the semifinals, while Rybakina, the only player from Kazakhstan to win a major title, has reached the quarterfinals once.
Russian-born Varvara Gracheva of France advanced to the fourth round of a major tournament for the first time after defeating Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania 7-5, 6-3.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic rallied from two sets down to eventually overcome 30th-seeded Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 6-7 (8), 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 in nearly four-and-a-half hours.
Novak Djokovic will face 23rd-seeded Francisco Cerundolo in the fourth round.
Alexander Zverev rallied from 4-1 down in the fifth set to beat 26th-seeded Tallon Griekspoor 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (3) with an ace.
German player Zverev’s trial for allegedly causing harm to a woman began on Friday.
In other men’s third-round matches, Daniil Medvedev won against Tomas Machac and Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Ben Shelton.
Rain interrupted play for the fifth consecutive day, with temperatures dropping to 14 degrees (57 F).
Singles play finally resumed at 5:37 p.m., with Elina Avanesyan defeating Zheng Qinwen in a long match.
Medvedev even wore leg warmers during his match against Machac.
There was a unique moment when a pigeon fell onto the court and was collected by the umpire.
