Top seed Sabalenka survives first-set stumble to beat Jacquemot at French Open

[p]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.[/p][p][b]"That was a very tough opponent. Tricky match. I'm happy that I closed it in straight sets," [/b]Sabalenka said.[/p][p][b]"She played really incredible tennis and forced me to step in and play on another level. I am happy I could handle it and win."[/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="648cd648-cddf-44c1-a713-6ea0cb47d097" credit-line="Flashscore (corleve / Alamy / Profimedia)" guid="ffca96e7-7ec8-475b-9f22-fab0fdd77bbf" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]The world ‌number one earned an early break with ​a powerful forehand to go 3-1 up but [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/jacquemot-elsa/8Gag74BD/"]Jacquemot[/a] broke straight ​back.[/p][p]On a day when the men's world number one [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sinner-jannik/6HdC3z4H/"]Jannik Sinner[/a] crashed ⁠out in five ​sets to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/cerundolo-juan-manuel/A93TM7BR/"]Juan Manuel Cerundolo[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Sabalenka[/a] had to dig deep in the first set against the world number 67.[/p][p]She had ‌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.[/p][p]The top seed kept her composure and won the first set on her third set ‌point, and she never looked back.[/p][p]She ​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.[/p][embed guid="b383f030-c63e-4433-b417-bcb22b155631" url="https://x.com/WTA/status/2060056881389858836" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]"It's always challenging playing her,"[/b] the top seed said. [b]"She's a fighter. She's putting all of the balls back. You have to really work for each point, especially on the clay court."[/b][/p][p]A four-time Grand Slam champion, Sabalenka is still looking ‌to land her first French ⁠Open title. [/p][p]She will next ⁠face Australia's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/kasatkina-daria/GU42elks/"]‌Daria Kasatkina[/a].[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/jacquemot-e-8Gag74BD/sabalenka-a-vyhksgUB/?mid=zTWAqyh4"]Click here for more on the match[/a][/b][/p]