Sabalenka wants French Open title, not favourite tag

PARIS :While she is on a mission to get her hands on the Suzanne Lenglen Cup at the French Open, Aryna Sabalenka is more than happy to leave the favourite's tag to four-time champion Iga Swiatek.

Swiatek, who won the last three titles in Paris, has had a troubled pre-tournament swing, but the Polish player has been in fine form since Roland Garros started, reinforcing indeed her status as a favourite.

World number one Sabalenka has also been steamrolling her opponents, conceding only 10 games and she powered into the fourth round with a 6-2 6-3 victory against Serbia's Olga Danilovic on Friday.

The Belarusian dominated her opponent from the start and although she faced some brief resistance in the second set, she easily set up a meeting with 16th seed Amanda Anisimova of the United States as well as strengthening her title credentials.

"I am super happy with the win, Olga is a fighter and I knew it would be a fight. She played like a top 10 player; pretty soon she will be in the top 10," said Sabalenka.

Sabalenka started in ruthless fashion, racing to a 5-0 lead but Danilovic avoided the bagel by winning the sixth game on serve, going on to pull a break back.

The resurgence was shortlived, however, as Sabalenka wrapped up the opening set with another break of serve.

Danilovic put up a decent fight in the second set but there was no comeback on the cards as Sabalenka broke for 5-3.

The three-time Grand Slam champion wrapped it up with an unreturnable serve on a half-empty Court Philippe Chatrier - a common occurrence on early matches at the French Open.

Is that enough to make her the top favourite for a maiden French Open title?

"It's tough to predict in women's tennis, you know. Let's just leave it (the favourite tag) on Iga since