Tennis
2026-05-30 - Aryna Sabalenka vs Daria Kasatkina
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
Tennis : French Open Third Round
Saturday 30th May 2026 - Scheduled Midday
11am (British Time)
Preview
After seeing the likes of Elena Rybakina and Jannik Sinner dumped out of the French Open before the end of the first week, Aryna Sabalenka and her fans will be happy with the relatively comfortable progress being made.
The wins have not stood out, but they have seen Aryna Sabalenka work herself into the matches and then go through the gears in the second set and the World Number 1 should not have been overly taxed through two Rounds. The match up in this Third Round contest is one that should appeal to Aryna Sabalenka and she has been set as a big favourite, which is not going to be a surprise to anyone.
It has been just shy of two years since Aryna Sabalenka last faced Daria Kasatkina on the Tour, but the former has won seven of the previous seven matches, including the last four in a row. Those have been one-sided wins, although Daria Kasatkina may feel her best chances of upsetting the top Seed will be on a clay court.
She represents Australia these days and at 29 years old, it does feel like Daria Kasatkina's best days are behind her- the World Ranking reflects that with Kasatkina outside of the top 32 having been a top 20 Ranked player twelves month ago.
Over the last twelve months on all surfaces, Daria Kasatkina holds a 20-18 record and that is down to the two wins she has produced at the French Open. Beating opponents Ranked 66 and 218 is not going to prepare Kasatkina for the challenge of facing the very best player on the Tour, while she holds a 6-4 record on the hard courts when facing top 100 Ranked players this season.
Only one of those players has been Ranked inside the top 20 and Daria Kasatkina will be well aware that she is going to have to play some of her best tennis in recent times to offer up a challenge to Aryna Sabalenka.
It should be noted that Aryna Sabalenka had limited clay court preparation ahead of the French Open this season, but that match up against Daria Kasatkina should give the top Seed the confidence to roll through this Third Round match.
Aryna Sabalenka has broken the Daria Kasatkina serve at least four times in each of the last eight matches played against one another and there is a vulnerability to that part of the latter's tennis.
Both previous clay court matches have been won by Aryna Sabalenka too, including once here at Roland Garros, while the heat of Paris should make the Belarusian's serve a key difference between the players.
Prediction
Big names may already have been beaten at the French Open, but this Third Round match features the top Seed in the Women's draw.
Aryna Sabalenka should be more focused having seen rival Elena Rybakina lose and the next day seeing the top Seed in the Men's draw beaten and that could see her continue her dominance of Daria Kasatkina and cover this big spread set at the French Open.
The Pick :
Aryna Sabalenka 2-0 Daria Kasatkina
