Fifth-seeded Elina Svitolina hit a cross court forehand winner on match point to win the first match on Court Suzanne Lenglen and seal her spot in the second round of the French Open.
Svitolina converted all three break points and hit 25 winners to prevail 6-4, 6-3 over Yaroslava Shvedova, a two-time quarter-finalist in Paris.
Svitolina is coming off the Rome title two weeks ago and is an outside favourite in Paris, where she made it to the quarter-finals two years ago. The Ukrainian has won three other tournaments this year.
“I was very happy with the way I handled the pressure,” she said. “It’s the first time that I have won four titles and two big ones so it’s given me a lot of confidence.”
Kyrgios, Del Potro advance
Australian Nick Kyrgios shrugged off injury concerns and kept his emotions in check to outclass Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 and book his spot in the second round.
The 18th seed, who fired a total of 2 aces, including six in the first set alone, which he raced though in 30 minutes.
A mini-break in the tie break was enough to hand him the second set as Kohlschreiber struggled with the Australian’s whipped groundstrokes and repeated audacious dropshots.
Kyrgios, notorious for his periodic bad temper and sulks on court, sealed his victory on his first match point.
Juan Martin del Potro made a triumphant return to the French Open, defeating compatriot Guido Pella in his first match at Roland Garros since 2012.
The injury-plagued Argentine, who sat out this year’s Australian Open over fitness concerns, blitzed Pella 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 to reach the second round.
Del Potro, seeded 29th, will face Nicolas Almagro or Marcos Baghdatis next and is a potential third-round opponent for world number one Andy Murray.
His best result in Paris came in 2009 when he lost to eventual champion Roger Federer in the semi-finals, the same year Del Potro beat the Swiss to lift the US Open title.
Women’s No 7 knocked out
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-Wei knocked British seventh seed Johanna Konta out of the French Open, registering her first victory over a top-10 player.
Hsieh, the 31-year-old world No 109, triumphed 1-6, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 taking the tie on her second match point when Konta fired a forehand return into the net.
Konta has yet to win a match in Paris in three main draw appearances.
“It was not easy as she is a great player. I had to fight for every point otherwise she would hit a winner or open the court,” said Hsieh, who goes on to face Taylor Townsend of the United States.
Konta fired 37 winners but also 38 unforced errors.
* Agencies
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