Chinese pairs fare smooth in doubles, Murray challenged for last 32 at Roland Garros

File photo shows China's Zhang Shuai plays against Britain's Johanna Konta during China Open Women's Singles quarterfinal, July 10, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

PARIS - Chinese women's tennis players recorded stable performance in women's doubles first round with three pairs going through, while men's top seed Andy Murray was contested in his quest for a last 32 berth here on Thursday.

After taking away the first set at 6-3, Zheng Saisai and her Romanian partner Irina-Camelia Begu were forced a tiebreak, where they won 8-6 on a double fault from Xenia Knoll and Nina Stojanovic.

Zhang Shuai, who set her personal best of last 32 on Wednesday, joined forces with her friend Samantha Stosur, while falling down 6-2, 6-3 to Xu Yifan and Gabriela Dabrowski.

Liang Chen and Wang Qiang only needed eight minutes to win the first round as their opponents, Chuang Chia-Jung of Chinese Taipei and Misaki Doi of Japan withdrew after trailing 1-2 in the first set.

The Chinese duo of Peng Shuai and Duan Yingying also made into the second round a day earlier.

However, it was a frustrating day for another Chinese player Yang Zhaoxuan, as she and Japanese Shuko Aoyama lost to Russian duo of Alla Kudryavtseva and Alexandra Panova 7-6 (6), 6-4.

World No 1 Andy Murray had to make a comeback from a set down to beat Slovakian Martin Klizan 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-2, 7-6 (3).

"He's very tough to play against, because he has a huge power off the forehand side. He's dangerous when he's on the run," Murray said of Klizan's performance.

Murray will next face No 29 seed Juan Martin Del Potro in the third round.

The third-seeded Stan Wawrinka swept Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-4, 7-6 (5), 7-5, joining Marin Cilic, Kei Nishikori and Gael Monfils as seeded players in the third round.

Women's second seed Karolina Pliskova, fifth seed Elina Svitolina and ninth seed Agnieszka Radwanska also made their way to the last 32 through three sets. The third-seeded Simona Halep of Romania recorded a convincing victory of 6-4, 6-3 against German Tatjana Maria, who eliminated China's Duan Yingying in the first round.

Zhang Shuai can expect to refresh her personal best at Roland Garros as she will face the No 8 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova, a two-time Grand Slam singles winner, in Friday's third round.