PARIS Top-ranked Simona Halep put aside a terrible start and came back to claim 12 of the last 14 games, beating 83rd-ranked Alison Riske of the United States 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 to reach the second round of the French Open.
It was the last match of the tournament’s opening round.
Halep, the runner-up at Roland Garros in 2014 and a year ago, played poorly in the first set, with only four winners and 16 unforced errors. But she had 16 winners and 12 unforced errors the rest of the way, while Riske made more and more mistakes.
Meanwhile, two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova made it through to the third round of the French Open, making light work of 91st-ranked Lara Arruabarrena of Spain in a 6-0, 6-4 win on Court 1.
The eighth-seeded Kvitova lost in the second round last year when she was coming back to the tour after a knife attack in her home in 2016 that left her needing surgery on her left hand, her playing hand.
The Czech player made the semifinals at Roland Garros in 2012.