Preview: French Open: Aryna Sabalenka vs. Jessica Bouzas - prediction, form, head-to-head

The quest for a first French Open title begins on Monday for Aryna Sabalenka when she squares off with Jessica Bouzas in the opening round.

Sabalenka exited the Italian Open versus Sorana Cirstea in the round of 32, 6-2 3-6 5-7, while her upcoming Spanish opponent lost in the Morocco Open quarter-finals to Petra Marcinko 3-6 4-6.

Match preview

She came oh-so-close to taking the French Open title last year, and Aryna Sabalenka will hope to finish the job in 2026.

Last year’s finalist at this event is coming off a disappointing finish in Italy, but has captured three singles titles on tour this year.

In her last six Grand Slam appearances, she has reached the semi-finals or beyond, exiting only once in the final four over that stretch, at Wimbledon in 2025.

Sabalenka has made it past the opening round in seven straight editions of the French Open, ousting Kamila Rakhiova at this stage a year ago.

For the year, the Belarusian has won 71.8% of her first serves and 85.4% of her service games overall.

Her return game has also been solid in 2026, with Sabalenka winning 58.9% of her return points and converting 41.7% of those break point opportunities.

Fresh off some strong performances in Morocco, Jessica Bouzas will aim to add another big player to her list of upsets next week.

Heading into this event, the Spaniard has made the quarter-finals or further in her previous two events on tour.

That said, she has not advanced beyond her opening match in her previous two Grand Slam appearances, with Bouzas losing to qualifier Storm Hunter in straight sets at this year’s Australian Open.

Meanwhile, she has only made it beyond the opening round of this tournament once before, defeating Americans Emma Navarro and Robin Montgomery to get to round three in 2025, while she has beaten three top-10 players on tour.

Errors have plagued her throughout 2026 and hindered her progress, with the 23-year-old committing a total of 90 double faults.

She has won 59.9% of her service games while also managing to convert 46.8% of her break points to this stage of the year.

Head To Head

Australian Open (2025) - Second Round: Sabalenka wins 6-3 7-5

Cincinnati Open (2025) - Round of 16: Sabalenka wins 6-1 7-5

When these ladies first met Down Under last year, the Belarusian converted five of her six break point opportunities while only registering one double fault, with Bouzas committing five.

The last match between them in Cincinnati last year came down to second serves, with Sabalenka winning 62% of hers while Bouzas only won 13%.

We say: Sabalenka to win in two sets

Although Bouzas is capable of an upset, she is vulnerable to making her share of mistakes, and Sabalenka rarely commits that many in a match if ever.