Rybakina cruises past Minnen to reach French Open second round

Elena Rybakina, world number four, recovered from a rocky start to easily defeat Belgian Greet Minnen 6-2 6-3 in the first round of the French Open on Tuesday, demonstrating a full recovery from her recent illness.

Rybakina was unable to defend her Italian Open title, and after losing serve in the first game at Roland Garros and falling behind 2-0, it appeared that the Kazakh could be in trouble.

Rybakina pulled out of the French Open last year before her third-round match.

"Last year I missed this tournament and it was really hard but really happy to be back and compete here," Rybakina said.

"I'm really happy, thank you so much for coming guys, it's been an amazing atmosphere."

After Minnen's quick start, fourth seed Rybakina settled in to take the next six games and win the first set, and the Kazakh started the second set in the same way, cruising to a 4-0 lead.

Minnen rallied and broke serve, and when Rybakina broke for the third time in the second set and served for the match, the Belgian broke once more. However, it only delayed the inevitable; the Kazakh won the match with her next service game.

The roof was back in use on Court Suzanne Lenglen as rain fell on Roland Garros, but Rybakina was unbothered about the weather.

"Of course, the ball is a little bit heavier and you need to move better and it's different, but that's tennis and you need to adjust with this rainy weather," she said.

Rybakina is the only player to beat Iga Swiatek on clay this year, defeating the world number one and three-time French Open champion on her way to the Stuttgart title in April.

The 24-year-old will now have a few days off before facing either Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands or Germany's Angelique Kerber.

SportsLigue