Simona Halep overcomes early nerves at French Open

Top seed Simona Halep got her French Open challenge well and truly under way in the closing stages of her first- round encounter with American Alison Riske on Wednesday.

The pair had been forced to wait until day four because of rain delays, and it was a sluggish Halep who finally took to Philippe-Chatrier Court.

It took 31 minutes and six games for the Romanian to get on the scoreboard as the far livelier Riske took a 5-0 lead that proved too big a deficit for Halep to overcome.

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A first-set tally of 16 unforced errors and just four winners had Halep angrily swiping the air with her racquet, while coach Darren Cahill did his best to hide his concern in the stands.

However, the two-time finalist clicked into gear in the second set, establishing her own double-break lead and going on to defeat the world No.83 2-6 6-1 6-1.

“I had a slow start because it’s always tough to start this tournament,” said Halep.

“It’s a pleasure to come here and to play, so always I feel nervous at the beginning.

“It was good that I came back so strong. 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 also at the beginning, but my arm was very tight and I couldn’t hit the ball as I wanted.”

Halep will continue her campaign for a first Grand Slam title against American Taylor Townsend in the second round on Thursday.

The other leading women in action on day four were considerably more clinical, with second seed Caroline Wozniacki dropping just one game in a 6-0 6-1 demolition of Spain’s Georgina Garcia Perez that lasted 51 minutes.

Fourth seed Elina Svitolina, seen by many as the tournament favourite, saw off Russia’s Viktor Kuzmova 6-3 6-4.

“I’m very happy to win in two sets,” said Svitolina.

“It’s a tough transition from the hard courts to the clay but I try to work on my game and do well here. It’s one of my favourite tournaments.”

Eighth seed Petra Kvitova continues to impress on the clay, sweeping past Lara Arruabarrena of Spain 6-0 6-4, but next faces a tough test against in-form25th seed Anett Kontaveit.

There were straight-sets wins for American Sloane Stephens, seeded 10th, and Madison Keys, seeded 13th, as well as Japan’s 21st seed Naomi Osaka and Russian 14th seed Daria Kasatkina.