Roland-Garros: Halep fights for comeback win over lucky loser Schunk

Simona Halep, the No 19 seed, moved into the second round of Roland-Garros by defeating German lucky loser Nastasja Schunk 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 on a chilly Tuesday evening in Paris.

Halep, also ranked world No 19, will face Chinese Qinwen Zheng next – and admitted on court afterwards that she would need to play better if she hoped to progress through the tournament.

She fell behind 3-0 in the first set before clawing her way back, and said in her press conference: “I found a way to stay focused and to fight for the set. Second set I was not able to do that. She played really well. I went a little bit down.

“But then in the third set I restarted everything. I just fought for every ball. I restart in my mind. I did what I had to do, and I felt more confident, I felt better. So I found the rhythm. I’m happy with the way I finished the match.”

Watch also

Major Talk #13: Simona Halep: “The fire is back. I want to win another Grand Slam.”

Tennis Majors

Schunk, ranked No 165, won against Brazilian Laura Pigossi (7-5, 3-6, 6-3), Paraguayan Veronica Cepede Royg (6-3, 6-1) and American qualifier Hailey Baptiste (7-5, 4-6, 6-2) to reach the main draw.

Read also

Simona Halep exclusive: “I was close to retiring in 2021”

Tennis Majors

Paris (Grand Slam): Other first-round results (Stade Roland-Garros, clay, EUR 43.600.000, most recent results first):

• Chloe Paquet beat Aryna Sabalenka: tuesday
• Panna Udvardy beat Fernanda Contreras Gomez: tuesday
• Daria Kasatkina (20) beat Rebecca Sramkova (LL): 6-2, 6-0
• Madison Brengle beat Mihaela Buzarnescu (LL): 6-1, 6-2
• Tamara Zidansek (24) beat Claire Liu: 6-2, 6-2
• Kaja Juvan beat Oksana Selekhmeteva (Q): 7-5, 7-6 [4]
• Paula Badosa (3) beat Fiona Ferro (WC): 6-2, 6-0
• Camila Giorgi (28) beat Shuai Zhang: 3-6, 6-2, 6-2
• Jessica Pegula (11) beat Qiang Wang: 6-2, 6-4
• Yulia Putintseva beat Irina Bara (Q): 6-3, 6-1
• Anhelina Kalinina beat Hailey Baptiste: 5-2 ab.
• Mayar Sherif beat Marta Kostyuk: 6-3, 7-5
• Shelby Rogers beat Tereza Martincova: 6-4, 6-3
• Madison Keys (22) beat Anna Kalinskaya: 6-3, 3-6, 6-4
• Irina-Camelia Begu beat Jasmine Paolini: 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 [5]
• Caroline Garcia beat Taylor Townsend: 6-3, 6-4
• Ekaterina Alexandrova (30) beat Greet Minnen: 7-5, 6-3
• Elena Rybakina (16) beat Arantxa Rus: 6-1, 5-7, 6-2
• Katie Volynets (WC) beat Viktorija Golubic: 6-2, 2-6, 6-1
• Alize Cornet beat Misaki Doi: 6-2, 6-0
• Aleksandra Krunic (Q) beat Kamilla Rakhimova: 6-4, 6-3
• Danielle Collins (9) beat Viktoriya Tomova (LL): 6-0, 6-4
• Karolina Pliskova (8) beat Tessah Andrianjafitrimo (WC): 2-6, 6-3, 6-1
• Jelena Ostapenko (13) beat Lucia Bronzetti: 6-1, 6-4
• Angelique Kerber (21) beat Magdalena Frech: 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
• Veronika Kudermetova (29) beat Lin Zhu (Q): 6-4, 3-6, 6-3
• Ajla Tomljanovic beat Anett Kontaveit (5): 7-6 [5], 7-5
• Anna-Karolina Schmiedlova beat Kristina Kucova: 4-6, 7-6 [1], 6-2
• Emma Raducanu (12) beat Linda Noskova (Q): 6-7 [4], 7-5, 6-1
• Leolia Jeanjean (WC) beat Nuria Parrizas Diaz: 6-4, 6-3
• Elsa Jacquemot (WC) beat Heather Watson: 6-3, 6-3
• Danka Kovinic beat Liudmila Samsonova (25): 2-6, 6-2, 6-1
• Diane Parry beat Barbora Krejcikova (2): 1-6, 6-2, 6-3
• Alison Riske beat Dayana Yastremska: 6-3, 6-3
• Iga Swiatek (1) beat Lesia Tsurenko (Q): 6-2, 6-0
• Daria Saville (WC) beat Valentini Grammatikopoulou (Q): 6-1, 6-2
• Andrea Petkovic beat Oceane Dodin: 6-4, 6-2
• Victoria Azarenka (15) beat Ana Bogdan: 6-7 [7], 7-6 [1], 6-2
• Amanda Anisimova (27) beat Naomi Osaka: 7-5, 6-4
• Bianca Andreescu beat Ysaline Bonaventure: 3-6, 7-5, 6-0
• Petra Kvitova (32) beat Anna Bondar: 7-6 [7], 6-1
• Martina Trevisan beat Harriet Dart: 6-0, 6-2
• Qinwen Zheng beat Maryna Zanevska: 6-3, 6-1
• Marie Bouzkova beat Anastasia Gasanova (LL): 6-2, 6-1
• Leylah Fernandez (17) beat Kristina Mladenovic: 6-0, 7-5
• Donna Vekic (Q) beat Mirjam Bjorklund (Q): 7-6 [6], 6-2
• Belinda Bencic (14) beat Reka-Luca Jani (LL): 6-1, 6-1
• Cori Coco Gauff (18) beat Rebecca Marino (Q): 7-5, 6-0
• Elise Mertens (31) beat Elena-Gabriela Ruse: 6-3, 6-1
• Maria Sakkari (4) beat Clara Burel: 6-2, 6-3
• Alison Van Uytvanck beat Ann Li: 3-6, 2-3 ab.
• Varvara Gracheva beat Astra Sharma: 4-6, 6-4, 7-5
• Olga Danilovic (Q) beat Dalma Galfi: 3-6, 7-6 [4], 6-2
• Jil Teichmann (23) beat Bernarda Pera: 6-2, 6-1
• Katerina Siniakova beat Petra Martic: 6-4, 7-6 [6]
• Aliaksandra Sasnovich beat Xinyu Wang: 6-4, 6-1
• Kaia Kanepi beat Garbine Muguruza (10): 2-6, 6-3, 6-4
• Karolina Muchova beat Carole Monnet (WC): 6-3, 6-3
• Maria Camila Osorio Serrano beat Harmony Tan (WC): 6-4, 6-3
• Sloane Stephens beat Jule Niemeier (Q): 5-7, 6-4, 6-2
• Sorana Cirstea (26) beat Tatjana Maria: 6-3, 6-3
• Beatriz Haddad Maia beat Cristina Bucsa (Q): 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
• Magda Linette beat Ons Jabeur (6): 3-6, 7-6 [4], 7-5