Wang quickly into the swing

PARIS－Wang Qiang won an all-Chinese clash against Zheng Saisai to get her French Open campaign off to a solid start in Paris on Tuesday.

Despite dropping her serve in the fifth game, Wang, ranked No 1 in China and seeded 16th here, easily took the first set 6-1.

However, the unseeded Zheng posed Wang plenty of problems in the second set before eventually losing 7-5.

Afterwards, Wang said she was relieved to avoid a deciding set.

"My opponent is adept at playing on clay, changing it up and playing drop shots. So I needed to be fully prepared for her," said the 27-year-old Tianjin native.

"She made many mistakes in the first set, but posed a great challenge to me in the second set, looking for opportunities by constantly mixing her game up.

"At 5-5 in the second, I was not quite sure what the result would be."

Zheng said she "messed up" in the first set but did better in the second. "With so many errors in the first set, I was trying to find chances, but overall I fared below par," she said.

Zhu takes positives

Earlier, China's Wang Yafan lost 6-4, 6-3 to Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic, and Zhu Lin was routed 6-1, 6-1 by Romania's Irina-Camelia Begu.

Despite the lopsided score, world No 106 Zhu was not too disheartened by her first appearance in the main draw at Roland Garros.

"I'm not quite familiar with the French Open, so I was just aiming to enjoy my experience of playing here without thinking too much about the result," said the 25-year-old.

"My coach and I had planned for me to get the upper hand by mixing it up, but it didn't pan out that way.

"She was striking the ball well and generating a lot of spin. I managed some spectacular shots but would then concede four or five points in a row.

"I felt a little nervous out there and couldn't reproduce how I was thinking and playing in training. I just have to focus on one point in training, but have to pay attention to many things in a match."

Zhu, who briefly broke into the top 100 in February, reckons bettering her serve and the way she reads the game are the keys to improving her ranking.

"As I'll be facing different opponents for the first time, I need to think about how to heat up quickly in matches, in the opening two games, and understand my opponent's style," she said.

Osaka escapes

Meanwhile, Japan's world No 1 Naomi Osaka survived a major scare against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia.

In her first Grand Slam as the top seed, Osaka recovered from a first-set bagel to overcome her 90th-ranked opponent 0-6, 7-6 (4), 6-1 in windy conditions on Court Philippe-Chatrier.

Schmiedlova spurned two chances to serve out the match and Osaka admitted she had dodged a bullet.

"That was the most nervous I have ever been my entire life during a match. You could see that in the first set. I was literally not hitting any balls on the court," said Osaka, who is looking to win three successive Grand Slam titles, having prevailed at the US and Australian Opens.

Osaka will next face Victoria Azarenka after the former world No 1 dispatched the 2017 titlist Jelena Ostapenko 6-4, 7-6(4).

"My opponent for the first round was one of the toughest in the draw. I was rushing too much, and conditions were very tough. It was super windy today," Latvian world No 39 Ostapenko said after falling at the first hurdle for the second year running.

Azarenka said: "I love to challenge myself against the best players. I had some good wins in the last couple of weeks against top-10 players, so I feel that I'm ready to play against top players."

Reigning champion Simona Halep of Romania also advanced to the second round, triumphing over Australian's Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.