Rybakina impresses at Roland Garros

Elena Rybakina wasted no time on Tuesday. Against Greet Minnen, she played a full match, giving no chance to a completely outmatched opponent (6-2, 6-3 in 1h12).

However, this kind of performance was by no means guaranteed. Indeed, the Kazakh had not appeared in competition since the Madrid tournament and her semi-final defeat by Aryna Sabalenka (1-6, 7-5, 7-6). The title holder in Italy, she had nonetheless opted to withdraw in order to conserve her energy ahead of the French Open. Given the level of tennis on offer in this first match, it's safe to assume that her choice was the right one.

Despite a solid match in which she committed almost no errors (6 unforced errors), the Belgian was absolutely powerless to get anything going. On the other side of the court, Rybakina was devilishly aggressive (36 winners, 21 unforced errors, 5 aces, 7 successful breaks), suffocating her distraught opponent.

The only hiccup was a curious failure of the legs at the conclusion, which ultimately had no consequences.

Be that as it may, the remarkable level of tennis offered by the world number 4 can only mean one thing: the big three (Swiatek, Sabalenka, Rybakina), theorized in Madrid, is not dead, as she is clearly positioned as one of the great favourites for the final title.