Aryna Sabalenka stops Sloane Stephens to reach quarterfinals

PARIS — World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka weathered a first-set implosion to beat American Sloane Stephens 7-6 (5), 6-4 on Sunday and advance to the French Open quarterfinals.

The Belarusian gave Stephens, the 2017 US Open champion, no hope at the start, unleashing a barrage of baseline missiles that left the 30-year-old stunned.

Sabalenka, the hardest-hitting player on the women’s tour and the 2023 Australian Open champion, raced to a 5-0 lead with Stephens winning a total of just eight points.

But the American, no stranger to the Paris big stage after reaching the final in 2018, was not done yet, clawing her way back and saving a set point at 5-2 to cut the deficit.

With her own first serve wilting, Sabalenka, in complete freefall by now, missed another two set points at 5-4 on Stephens’ serve before her opponent leveled and then held to take it to a tiebreak.

The Belarusian, looking to add a second Grand Slam to her maiden triumph, managed to pull herself together at the last moment, clinching the first set on her fourth opportunity.

She cut down on the unforced errors in the second set but again Stephens battled back from 4-2 down to level before Sabalenka broke again to go 5-4 up and serve out the match.

In the quarterfinals, Sabalenka will face Elina Svitolina, who defeated No. 9 Daria Kasatkina 6-4, 7-6 (5). Svitolina, who is from Ukraine, skipped the postmatch handshake against her Russian opponent because of the ongoing war; Kasatkina offered a thumbs-up to Svitolina.

Two unseeded women will play each other in another quarterfinal: Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 2021 runner-up at Roland Garros, and Karolina Muchova.

Pavlyuchenkova, who missed last year’s tournament as part of a lengthy absence with a knee injury, got past a third consecutive seeded opponent, No. 28 Elise Mertens, by a 3-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 score.

Muchova was a 6-4, 6-4 winner against Elina Avanesyan, who lost in qualifying but got into the main draw when another player withdrew.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.