Sabalenka hits winners for fun but Rakhimova gives her as good as she's got to level at deuce.

It feels as though there's been a slip in Sabalenka's focus, and she loses her cool as she misses a a backhand from close range, furiously slamming her racquet into the net.

Break point Rakhimova.

Another double fault is added to Rakhimova's tally in a tricky game to navigate.

At 40-30 down, Sabalenka draws level at deuce with a forehand that Rakhimova can't get a solid connection with, but the Russian gets another game point as Sabalenka fails to deal with a serve into her body.

Sabalenka hands her the game with a return into the net.

As is becoming more and more frequent in this match, Sabalenka flies to 40-0 up though Rakhimova pulls back a point with a forehand return off the serve.

But any signs of a comeback quickly diminish, the Russian letting out a little scream as she over-hits a forehand to hand Sabalenka yet another hold.

She does.

Successive winners and a Sabalenka backhand into the net put Rakhimova 40-0 ahead but she double faults AGAIN to end all chances of her own love hold. That's four double faults she's made today.

But she clinches the hold to 15 to slow Sabalenka down, at least.

Image source, Getty Images

The Australian Open champion is absolutely cruising now.

Aryna Sabalenka completes a second hold to love to make it seven games in a row.

Has Kamilla Rakhimova got anything in response?

Rakhimova is struggling to assert control on her serve, Sabalenka going 0-30 up before finding herself with two break points at 15-40.

Sabalenka wastes her first chance, firing long, but wraps up the break with some great defensive play before Rakhimova skews a lob wide.

Image source, gett

Aryna Sabalenka picks up where she left off in the first set, rattling off another ace as she races to a 30-0 lead on serve.

But Rakhimova pegs her back, forcing her into an error before the Belarusian hits out of bounds.

Sabalenka brings up game point with a deep backhand that draws "ooooooohs" from the (sparse) crowd, and sees out the hold with an overhead that plonks right on the baseline.

Sabalenka can't make use of her first set point, firing a forehand service return well out of bounds.

But she soon has another opportunity, earning advantage with a simple backhand into space at the net. She doesn't need to be asked twice, clinching the set with a well-worked point.

After a promising start, Rakhimova now has it all to do.

More double faults creep into Rakhimova's game, and she's struggling to deal with Sabalenka at the moment.

She gifts Sabalenka a set point with a forehand slammed into the net from close range.

Image source, Getty Images

Suddenly, Sabalenka is in control. She flies through her next game, slamming down an ace for 40-0 and while she plops a soft backhand into the net on her first game point, gets the hold at the next time of asking.

Rakhimova to serve to stay in the first set.

Sabalenka takes advantage of some poor serving from Rakhimova. After taking the first point, the Russian double faults twice in succession, and Sabalenka goes on to break to 15.

Rakhimova is furious with herself.

Rakhimova, already looking very settled on Chatrier, isn't going to make this easy for her opponent. Two fine winners put her up on Sabalenka's serve, a smile in celebration of the second.

Though she lets Sabalenka back in, she looks to have sealed a break point with a forehand into the corner but momentum takes her into the net.

Instead, Sabalenka holds with a powerful backhand, then has a laugh with the umpire as she forgets to sit down at the change of ends.

In the zone.

Back-to-back errors off the Sabalenka racquet and a forehand winner give Rakhimova a solid 40-0 lead on serve.

Sabalenka backhands a service return into the net and we have our first love hold of the match.

Some superb shot-making from Sabalenka, bringing up 40-15 with a powerful forehand into the corner.

Though she double faults on the next point, she seals the hold to 30.

Still very much on serve in these early stages.

Just like her opponent, Kamilla Rakhimova holds to 15 in her first service game of the day.

In reaching the third round at Roland Garros, Rakhimova has matched her previous best at a Grand Slam, previously reaching this stage at the 2021 US Open.

She has never faced Aryna Sabalenka before - what a moment for their first meeting, on Court Philippe Chatrier, one of the biggest stages in tennis.

Image source, Getty Images

A straightforward hold to 15 to kick off proceedings for Sabalenka.

The Belarusian has the opportunity to become world number one during this tournament. If Iga Swiatek fails to reach the quarter-finals, Sabalenka will move into top spot regardless of her own performance in Paris.

Aryna Sabalenka gets us under way.

Image source, BBC Sport

Jessica Pegula is writing a column for BBC Sport during the French Open, and in her first, told us how food poisoning derailed her Roland Garros preparations. Could that have had an effect on her performance today?

"Coming into this week's French Open, my preparations were completely thrown by getting food poisoning on my first night and first dinner in Paris," she wrote.

"What horrendous luck - I haven't gone out to a restaurant since because I've been too afraid to eat there.

"I don't know exactly what did the damage. I had escargots - I love escargots - but everyone else in my group had them. I also had salmon so maybe it was a bad piece of fish.

"I was throwing up for the whole night and I couldn't sleep much."

Read more here.

The headline news so far today is that world number three Jessica Pegula is out of the French Open. The American struggled in a 6-1 6-3 defeat by Elise Mertens.

Joining Mertens in the fourth round will be Daria Kasatkina, who made light work of her tie against American Peyton Stearns to win 6-0 6-1.

In the men's singles, Karen Khachanov is currently 2-1 up against Thanasi Kokkinakis.

And in the men's doubles, Great Britain's Neal Skupski and his Dutch partner Wesley Koolhof are through to the third round after a 6-4 6-2 win over Pedro Cachin and Wu Yibing. Skupski and Koolhof are the top seeds.

Fellow Brit Joe Salisbury is also through with his partner Rajeev Ram. The second seeds played just five games before their Spanish opponents retired.

It's with Aryna Sabalenka that we start today's live text.

She's up next on Court Philippe Chatrier, as the world number two on Russian Kamilla Rakhimova for a place in the fourth round at Roland Garros.

Never before has Belarusian Sabalenka reached the fourth round in Paris. Could today be the day?