French Open 2018: Out of sorts Simona Halep survives scare to progress to second round

Halep lost the first five games and the opening set before recovering to win 2-6, 6-1, 6-1

Halep is through to the second round (Getty)

Simona Halep has suffered two of the biggest disappointments of her career here on the main show court at the French Open, but the world No 1 averted another on Wednesday when she turned around her opening match against Alison Riske.

Looking distinctly out of sorts, Halep lost the first five games and the opening set before recovering to win 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 and earn a second-round meeting with another American, Taylor Townsend. By the end Halep was looking much like her usual self, but she surely cannot afford to make such slow starts against better opposition.

This was Halep’s first appearance on Court Philippe Chatrier since her defeat by Jelena Ostapenko in last year’s final, when she let slip a 6-4, 3-0 lead. That was the 26-year-old Romanian’s second loss in the final at Roland Garros following her defeat by Maria Sharapova in 2014.

Halep, however, has gone on to consolidate her position at the top of the world rankings, despite having gone on to lose in her third Grand Slam final when she was beaten by Caroline Wozniacki at this year’s Australian Open. In the eyes of many, the Romanian is the favourite to win her first Grand Slam title here.

Last year's finalist is safely through (AFP)

Riske hardly seemed like a dangerous opponent. Halep had won both their previous encounters and had lost only three games in their only meeting on clay in Rome three years ago.

The 27-year-old American had won only match in her four previous appearances in the main draw here, generally performs better on faster surfaces and has an appreciably better record at the three other Grand Slam tournaments. She had nevertheless reached her first clay-court final in Nuremberg last week.

The match had been scheduled for Tuesday but fell victim to the weather and instead the two women had to return to play the first match on Court Philippe Chatrier the following morning. More rain was forecast for later in the day and there was a chill in the air as the players walked into the stadium, which was sparsely populated.

Riske was into her stride immediately. While the world No 83 does not have the most elegant of games she can hit the ball with real power.

The Romanian had to dig deep (Getty)

Halep was struggling badly as she lost the first five games, making 12 unforced errors in the process. However, she finally got on the board in the sixth game and then broke as Riske suddenly looked less assured.

When Halep served at 30-30, however, Riske defended stoutly and went to set point when her opponent netted a drive volley. The American took her chance immediately as Halep missed a forehand.

The second set, nevertheless, was a mirror image of the first. This time it was Halep’s turn to make a flying start by winning the first five games and she took the set in just 22 minutes with her fifth consecutive break of serve.

Halep went 3-0 up in the deciding set and although Riske finally ended her run of broken service games she was soon on the back foot again. Halep completed her victory after 94 minutes when Riske’s forehand return sailed beyond the baseline.

“I felt nervous,” Halep admitted afterwards. “I had a slow start because it's always tough to start this tournament. It's a pleasure to come here and to play, so I always feel nervous at the beginning. But it was good that I came back so strong.

Halep made it through in 94 minutes (Getty)

“I just didn't think about the result or about the match. I just wanted to relax my arms, because I was moving pretty well at the beginning, but my arm was very tight and I couldn't hit the ball as I wanted.But then it was much easier, and I felt really good by the end of the match.”

Asked if it was not surprising that the world’s best player suffered with nerves, Halep said: “I’m a normal person, even if I am No 1 in the world.I think nerves are really good. It means that you care about what you are doing and your desire is really big.”

Although she had been nervous, Halep said she had not felt any pressure. “I know that every match is tough at this tournament, so I don’t expect anything,” she said.“But what I expect from myself is to go there and to play as I play in practice. That is the only one thing that I want to do on court.”

Petra Kvitova was into the third round before Halep was out of the first. The two-times Wimbledon champion crushed Spain’s Lara Arruabarrena 6-0, 6-4 in just 68 minutes.Elina Svitolina, the No 4 seed, beat Viktoria Kuzmova 6-3, 6-4, while Naomi Osaka, who has emerged as a major prospect this year, beat Zarina Diyas 6-4, 7-5.

Osaka does not regard clay as her favourite surface but said one of the reasons for her good form was the fact that she did not think about it.

“I don’t really consider the French Open to be on clay,” she said. “To my mind it’s not really clay. I think my main priority here is always to do really well and play great matches. I think that sort of gets rid of the fact that it's a clay court.”

Caroline Wozniacki wasted no time securing her place in the third round. The Australian Open champion beat Spain’s Georgina Garcia Perez, whose left leg was heavily strapped, 6-1, 6-0 in just 51 minutes.

Riske later joined forces with Johanna Konta in the doubles, but the American and the Briton were beaten by Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues and Arantxa Parra Santonja. Riske and Konta let slip a lead in the final set and were beaten 3-6, 6-4, 7-6.

Britain’s Heather Watson and Germany’s Tatjana Maria got their doubles campaign off to a winning start, beating France’s Manon Arcangioli and Sherazad Reix 6-3, 6-4. Serena and Venus Williams, playing their first Grand Slam doubles match together for two years, beat Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Miyu Kato 4-6, 6-4, 6-1.