China's Wang Xinyu secured her first main draw win at the French Open as the world No. 80 stunned 31st-seeded Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-6(5) to advance into the women's singles second round on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old, having already made it into the same stage twice at the Australian Open, had lost four consecutive first-round matches on clay this season.
"I'm happy with my win today. Honestly, I've been progressing on clay this season, trying to find my way on this surface. It was a big inspiration for me to win the match," Wang said in her post-match press conference.
Bouzkova was clinical in the second set, surging to a 4-1 lead thanks to two breaks in the first and fifth games. But Wang stayed calm to claw back, clinching a key break when her Czech opponent was serving for the set at 5-4.
"I didn't think too much in the second set when trailing 4-1 behind, because I was clear in mind how to play and knew her weakness on the court," Wang said.
The match went into a tiebreak after each held serve, while the Chinese player took an early 4-0 lead in the tiebreak before Bouzkova won four points in a row to level the score.
But a forehand unforced error from the world No.33 handed the chance to Wang, who earned two match points after a forehand winner, and then she converted on the second to seal the victory.
Next for Wang will be Swedish world No.87 Rebecca Peterson, who swept Frenchwoman Fiona Ferro 6-2, 6-0 to advance.
"She was a tough opponent to play on clay, good spin with her forehand. And I knew she went into the final in Mexico this season, I will try to prepare for the match," Wang commented about her next round.
