Iga Swiatek's bid for a fourth French Open title got off to a winning start as she beat Rebecca Sramkova in straight sets in her first match at Roland-Garros on Monday. (More Tennis News)
Swiatek, who is without a WTA Tour-level title since her triumph in Paris last year, produced a confident display to clinch a 6-3 6-3 win over Sramkova.
The world number one cruised through the opening set, winning the final four games to take the early advantage against her opponent.
And despite Sramkova breaking in the first game of the second, Swiatek sealed the win at the third time of asking with a fierce serve that the Slovakian was unable to return.Â
Swiatek's reward for her win is a second-round clash with Emma Raducanu, who emerged a 7-5 4-6 6-3 victor against Xinyu Wang across three sets.Â
But the first shock of the French Open came on the opening day, with Jessica Bouzas Manerio stunning ninth seed Emma Navarro with a 6-0 6-1 victory.Â
Bouzas Maniero was two points away from handing her opponent the first double bagel defeat of a top 10 player at a grand slam since Martina Navratilova beat Manuela Maleeva at the 1989 US Open.Â
But having won the first 11 games, she hit a double fault on break point to get Navarro on the board.Â
Indeed, in the past 40 years, the Spaniard has dropped the equal-fewest games against a WTA top 10 opponent at Roland-Garros, after Serena Williams (vs Sara Errani in 2013) and Steffi Graf (against Gabriela Sabatini in 1995).Â
Data Debrief: Swiatek surpasses Stephens with latest Roland-Garros win
Coming into her opening match in Paris, Swiatek knew the importance of a victory, having struggled for form since her semi-final defeat at the Australian Open.Â
And she was able to deliver a confidence-boosting win on Monday, becoming the player with the most women's singles main draw matches won at the French Open (36).Â
Indeed, only Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Evonne Goolagong, Monica Seles and Williams have a better record than Swiatek (24-1) in women's singles grand slam opening rounds after their first 25 appearances in majors (all 25-0 each).Â
