Amelie Mauresmo overcame Olga Savchuk to reach the second round at the French Open.
French favourite wins after lengthy rain delay
Amelie Mauresmo overcame Olga Savchuk to reach the second round at the French Open.
The home favourite, who has struggled in front of the Paris crowd over the years, held her nerve to see off her Ukrainian opponent 7-5 4-6 6-1.
Mauresmo, seeded 22nd after illness and injury led to a fall down the rankings, made a poor start with Savchuk claiming an early break of serve.
However, the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon champion fought back to take the first set and was level at 2-2 in the second when heavy rain forced a lengthy interruption.
When the players returned to court early in the evening it was Savchuk who seized the initiative with a break of serve to take the second set.
But the unseeded player was unable to maintain her momentum as Mauresmo stormed back to dominate the deciding set.
Savchuk was able to save two match points at 1-5 but Mauresmo made the most of a third chance for a well-deserved win.
Mental fears
"I hope with this match I can overcome all these mental fears I have," said Mauresmo, who plays Carla Suarez Navarro in the second round.
"I had many questions in my mind and many doubts before the tournament started.
"But it is reassuring from a physical standpoint because I started feeling much better over the weekend.
"I am an outsider (this year) so I have less personal expectations - less tension, less pressure. I'll take it one match at a time.
"That's what I've always done but it's going to be even more true this time."
Russian duo advance
The start of play had been delayed for almost three hours by rain and Russian pair Svetlana Kuznetsova and Dinara Safina were the only players to claim wins during a 90-minute window before the rain came again in mid-afternoon.
Fourth seed Kuznetsova ruthlessly dispatched Japan's Aiko Nakamura 6-2 6-3, while 13th seed Safina cruised past Kateryna Bondarenko 6-1 6-3.
Other seeds to progress were Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska (14), who saw off Mariya Koryttseva 6-4 6-3, and Japan's Ai Sugiyama (31), a three-set winner over Alla Kudryavtseva.
Unseeded trio Sabine Lisicki, Olivia Sanchez and Navarro also made their way into round two.
