Mumbai, May 23 -- Aryna Sabalenka, the unchallenged numero uno in women's tennis at present, and clay courts make for a curious case study. The Belarusian has triumphed at the Madrid Open, the prestigious WTA 1000 tournament on the European clay swing, three times including this year, matching the tally of Petra Kvitova, the crafty left-handed Czech. Sabalenka has beaten some of the more reputed clay-courters, including Ashleigh Barty and Iga Swiatek, and played her part in elevating the 2024 Madrid final with Swiatek to be among the most iconic battles in recent memory. Yet, of her 20 titles, only those three have come on clay. The 27-year-old has notched up 62 match wins on clay since 2021, as per stats by WTA. It's the second-best on the women's tour after four-time French Open champion Swiatek (81). Sabalenka's 5759.25 points on the WTA Clay-Court Power Rankings - an average of the points collected on the surface from the 2021 season - are also only second to Swiatek's (9336.75). Yet, the three-time Slam winner and two-time Wimbledon semifinalist has made just one semi-final at the French Open. Evidently over the last few years, Sabalenka has gradually found her feet and taken solid strides on the red dirt, but she is yet to make that big push where it matters most on the surface: Roland Garros. For the runaway world No.1 who has been consistency personified for a while now, the French Open starting on Sunday marks a significant test on whether she can crack the clay code in Paris and enhance her reputation from a mere hard-court bully to a multi-court champion. She has momentum, confidence and a more rounded game as her allies in that quest. The Australian Open finalist sits on a tour-leading 34 victories (to 6 losses) this season. That includes a 12-2 win-loss record on clay, with a title in Madrid and a final appearance in Stuttgart, where she lost to 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko. What would also work in Sabalenka's favour in Paris is that Swiatek, the three-time defending champion, is going through a rough patch. And, with the exception of world No.4 Jasmine Paolini, the rest in the top 10 also do not portray comfort on clay. Sabalenka, the two-time Australian Open and reigning US Open champion, certainly hasn't felt comfortable at Roland Garros. Five straight first-week exits from 2018 to 2022 - Sabalenka was far from developed in her game and the mind in that period - was followed by a semi-final defeat in 2023 to Karolina Muchova. Struck down by illness, she was packed off by Russian teen Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-final last year. What complicates things for the Belarusian on clay is what makes her a beast on hard courts. The go-for-broke mindset from the baseline power-hitter gets littered by the extra time and thoughts on the slower clay courts. "I have more time and more options in my head, and sometimes I get confused," Sabalenka had said. Sabalenka isn't the best when it comes to those options; certainly not in comparison to her unfiltered strokeplay from the back of the court. To feel more at home on clay, those options need to ring a bell come the right moment in a particular point. It's an aspect, however, that Sabalenka is increasingly getting better at. It has also resulted in her capturing Slams over the last two seasons from just being a familiar face in the second week. Sure, power played a huge role in Sabalenka's titles in Melbourne and New York last year, but so did her finer ability to surprise opponents with the variety of mixing the pace of the rally and her own court position. There's a stark difference in the court movement of Sabalenka of 2024-25 to the Sabalenka of 2021-22. According to data by Stats Perform, Sabalenka's average volume of net approaches in the 2024 season was 10.3, up from 6.5 in the 2021 season. Her success at the net mirrored the total approaches (6.7 in 2024 to 4.1 in 2021). Sabalenka may still be a work in progress in the touch game to go with all that brute force, but work has indeed gone into it and is starting to yield greater rewards. "I think that's the biggest key in most of the matches right now," Sabalenka said after her title in Madrid. It will remain key if the world No.1, of unrivalled consistency and hard-court supremacy, is to take that defining leap at the French Open. Sumit Nagal crashed out in the second qualifying round of the French Open, losing to world No.207 Jurij Rodionov of Austria 6-2, 6-4 in Paris on Wednesday. Nagal, ranked 170th currently, was the only Indian in singles contention at Roland Garros. Nagal, a top-100 player last year, had got a direct main draw entry into the 2024 French Open and lost to 18th seed Karen Khachanov in the opening round....