Two-time Grand Slam finalist Karolina Pliskova fought back from a set down against a French wild card on Tuesday, defeating Tessah Andrianjafitrimo 2-6, 6-3, 6-1 on Tuesday at Roland Garros.
The Czech eighth seed finished runner-up at Wimbledon last summer and the 2016 US Open.
Pliskova has struggled with a wrist injury sustained in the off-season and only got back on the Tour in March; she had only played a dozen matches heading into the clay-court major.
The 141-ranked Andrianjafitrimo took advantage of 22 unforced errors from her opponent in the first set before Pliskova got her game untracked to begin her fightback.
But the seed won the second and swept the third to advance in two hours.
“The first set was not the best that I’ve played this year,” Pliskova said. “I didn’t really start well, but I finished it quite okay,
“The other two sets were pretty much solid. I was more confident with my game, I put more pressure on her.
“The way I started may have given her the belief that she might beat me.
“But I played better and better as the match went on – the last set was the best.”
Spanish third seed Paula Badosa, a Paris quarter-finalist in 2021, soared past Fiona Ferro of France 6-2, 6-0.
“I was nervous closing it out,” the winner said., “This is a very special tournament for me.”
Madrid runner-up Jessica Pegula of the US needed 10 match points to finally overcome China’s Wang Qiang 6-2, 6-4.
Australian Open finalist Danielle Collins defeated Bulgaria Victoriya Tomova 6-0, 6-4, taking just 73 minutes to reach the second round with 30 winners.
Former Roland Garros winner Jelena Ostapenko showed signs of life after a difficult injury period, advancing past Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 6-4.
Ostapenko, who claimed the title here in 2017, had lost five consecutive matches from late February but broke that streak here.
“I felt my wrist, and after that, I had to take two weeks off and to do some treatment on my wrist,” she said of her March when she was forced to stop for a month.
“Rome and Madrid (when she resumed) were also tough after injury. You feel like you still have pain but you don’t really have pain. It’s more mental.”
Her next opponent will be Frenchwoman Alizé Cornet, a 6-2, 6-0 winner over Japan’s Misaki Doi in just under an hour.
Caroline Garcia earned a French win as she beat No. 342 American Taylor Townsend 6-3, 6-4.
Main photo:- Paola Badosa celebrates victory – by WTATennis.com
