Aryna Sabalenka crushed Emma Navarro in straight sets to advance to the French Open quarter-finals, requiring just 71 minutes to clinch a 6-2 6-3 victory. (Full Coverage | Tennis News)
World number two Sabalenka had reached the last 16 without dropping a single set, only losing more than two games in one of six sets of tennis at this year's tournament.
It was more of the same on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Monday, the two-time grand slam winner's power and poise giving world number 22 Navarro few chances to make it a contest.
Sabalenka set the tone by breaking in the very first service game and was a set up within 32 minutes, winning 13 of 14 points behind her first serve in the opener.
Another quick break meant the second set followed a similar pattern, and though Navarro came through a couple of tough service games, she only delayed the inevitable as Sabalenka teed up a last-eight clash with either Varvara Gracheva or Mirra Andreeva.
Data Debrief: No denying Sabalenka
Sabalenka was beaten in her only previous meeting with Navarro at Indian Wells earlier this year, but she gave the American little hope of a repeat on Monday.
The victory made her just the seventh woman to make seven consecutive Grand Slam quarter-finals this century, after Jennifer Capriati, Lindsay Davenport, Venus Williams and Serena Williams.
The last major where Sabalenka was not involved in the last eight was the 2022 edition of Wimbledon, when Russian and Belarusian players were banned due to the war in Ukraine.
