Ailing Bouchard wins 1st match at French Open
Canadian battling an ankle sprain
Canadian Eugenie Bouchard overcame an ankle injury in Tuesday's opening match at the French Open to defeat Risa Ozaki of Japan 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Bouchard stumbled out of the gate, falling behind 5-0 in a first set in which she committed 24 unforced errors.
But the hobbled Canadian just needed to taste some adversity. While Bouchard dropped the first set, she bounced back with only eight unforced errors in the second set before a dominant third sealed the win.
The native of Westmount, Que., was particularly strong in the third when she fired three aces, broke Ozaki on two of four attempts and held the final game to love.
Bouchard sustained the ankle injury practising for the Nuremberg Cup last week. She was forced to withdraw from that tournament in an attempt to get healthy for Roland Garros, and was clearly affected by the injury, but responded admirably.
This is the second time Bouchard has defeated Ozaki on tour in two attempts.
Bouchard next faces 17th-seed Anastasija Sevastova of Latvia. Bouchard and Sevastova faced each other twice last year, with each player coming away with a win. Their second-round match in Paris will be their first ever meeting on clay.
Halep through with ease
Simona Halep is safely through to the second round of the French Open after beating Jana Cepelova of Slovakia in straight sets.
A recent ankle injury didn't appear to be troubling the No. 3 seed as Halep raced to a 6-2, 6-3 victory in just 67 minutes.
The Romanian, who was runner up in 2014, will next face Maria Tatjana of Germany.
Murray advances
Top-seeded Andy Murray is safely through to the second round of the French Open after beating Andrey Kuznetsov of Russia 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.
Murray, who was runner-up at Roland Garros last year, has been struggling in 2017 and looked uncomfortable at times during the second set.
But the world No. 1 got into his stride and saw out the final set in just 27 minutes, sealing the match with a forehand down the line after winning eight successive games.
"Last year was a great year for me, you know it was the best I ever played," Murray said. "Here at the beginning of my career I struggled. But each year I kept coming back and was trying a little bit better and last year was really good.
The British player will face Martin Klizan in the second round.
Wawrinka wins
Stan Wawrinka is safely through to the second round of the French Open after a 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-3 win over Jozef Kovalik of Slovakia.
Wawrinka started his clay season poorly before emerging with a title at the Geneva Open last week. The No. 3 seed kept up his momentum in Paris.
"I enjoyed it very much," said Wawrinka, who won at Roland Garros in 2015. "It was not necessarily easy after I played in Geneva until Saturday to get into gear. I'm feeling good, I'm playing good tennis and I'm happy to be back in Paris."
With files from The Associated Press