Czech second seed Karolina Pliskova managed to rein in her errors and found a way past battling Egyptian qualifier Mayar Sherif with a 6-7(9) 6-2 6-4 victory in the opening round of the French Open.
Pliskova had 27 unforced errors and hit six double faults in the first set under the open roof of Court Philippe Chatrier as the 24-year-old Sherif, making her Grand Slam main draw debut, saved eight setpoints to win the opener in the tiebreaker.
Former world number one Pliskova improved drastically in the second to level the match with three breaks of her opponent's service games and a crucial break in the seventh game of the decider proved enough.
Pliskova, who retired in the final in Rome with injury before coming to Paris, sealed the match with an ace and will next meet 2017 champion Jelena Ostapenko, who earlier defeated American Madison Brengle 6-2 6-1.
"Conditions were not easy, and I think she also played a little better than I maybe thought, because I didn't know much," Pliskova told reporters.
"Let's not talk about my level. I think there is big room for improvement, but it is what it is and I'm in the next round, which counts."
There was controversy under the roof on Court Philippe Chatrier, where Kristina Mladenovic led Laura Siegemund 5-1 in the opening set only to lose 7-5 6-3.
On set point at 5-1, Siegemund appeared to scoop up a drop shot after the ball had bounced twice but umpire Eva Asderaki-Moore disagreed and Mladenovic did not recover.
It was another tough break for the Frenchwoman, who was withdrawn from the US Open after having had contact with Benoit Paire following his positive test for Covid-19.
Mladenovic said: "It was set point, supposed to be 6-1, and I think the chair umpire was the only person not to have seen it."
Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin was in trouble at a break down in the decider against Liudmila Samsonova but she recovered to win 6-4 3-6 6-3.
Danish teenager Clara Tauson made her breakthrough on the big stage by knocking out US Open semi-finalist Jennifer Brady in their first round encounter.
The 17-year-old came through qualifying to reach the main draw of a grand slam for the first time and pulled off the result of the day with a 6-4 3-6 9-7 win over 21st seed Brady.
Tauson won the Australian Open junior title last January and is on the verge of breaking into the world's top 150.
Given her nationality, comparisons with Caroline Wozniacki are inevitable, and Tauson's emergence comes nine months after the former world number one called time on her career.
Tauson said: "Caroline was a huge role model for me. We come from Denmark, and that's a very small tennis country. She made it out, and that made me think I could make it out also on the tour.
"We get compared a lot, but I am my own person, and she is her own person. I am just trying to focus on myself."
Of her breakthrough, Tauson said: "It's kind of an insane feeling. I didn't expect it going into the match. Jen, she was in the semi-finals of the US Open, so I was just grateful to be there and just happy that I could play a girl like her on a big court.
"It was a dream come true, of course, and then winning the match, I don't have any words yet. It was so great, I've never really experienced a match like that.
"Of course I am surprised I am in the second round of the French Open, but I feel like I have the game to be here right now."
