Belarus's Aryna Sabalenka took her time to get going before easing into the second round of the French Open with a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 win over Ukraine's Marta Kostyuk in a feisty encounter on Sunday. World No 2 Sabalenka prevailed in a match for which the build-up had been overshadowed by the continuing sporting fallout from the war in Ukraine. Sabalenka had said on the eve of their clash that she understood if Kostyuk felt "hate" towards a player from Belarus – a country aligned with Russia. However, the 25-year-old Sabalenka was unfazed on Court Philippe-Chatrier, winning 10 of the last 12 games to reach the second round. After the match, Kostyuk walked quickly to her chair, ignoring her opponent before Sabalenka bowed to the sparse crowd as boos echoed around the stadium. "It was a very tough match emotionally. I thought you guys were against me but I then really felt your support," said the Australian Open champion who has the chance to take Iga Swiatek's world No 1 spot at Roland Garros. Sabalenka appeared to be in some trouble on serve early on and fell behind 2-3, but the unseeded Kostyuk could not build on her advantage and the Belarusian struck back immediately with a crosscourt volley on break point. The second seed wrapped up the first set in style before pouncing in the next with an early break and another to go up 4-1, as Kostyuk wilted under the Paris sun. Sabalenka raised her level again late in the match to save two breakpoints and close out the victory in 71 minutes. Before play began on day one of the clay-court tournament, the players did not pose together for the standard photos up at the net after the coin toss. Kostyuk, a 20-year-old who is ranked 39th in the world, won her first WTA title in March in Texas by beating Russia's Varvara Gracheva and neither player went to the net afterwards that day. During her pre-tournament news conference on Friday, Sabalenka was asked about the likelihood there would be no handshake on Sunday. “If she hates me, OK. I can’t do anything about that. There is going to be people who love me; there is going to be people who hate me,” Sabalenka said then. “If she hates me, I don’t feel anything like that (towards) her.”
