Halep, Sabalenka, Badosa Winners At French Open; Bencic v Andreescu

After two day of upsets, order was mostly restored in the women’s draw at the French Open for the close of the first round.

Former champion Simona Halep survived 18-year-old lucky loser Nastasja Schunk 6-4, 1-6, 6-1.

Schunk, who made the Wimbledon junior final, rolled Halep in the second before the Romanian returned the favor.

“In the third set, I restarted everything,” said Halep. “I just fought for every ball. I restarted 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.”

Aryna Sabalenka also was pushed rallying from a set down to defeat Chloe Paquet 2-6, 6-3, 6-4. Karolina Pliskova also went three to defeat Tessah Andrianjafitrimo.

Paula Badosa rolled in under an hour over Fiona Ferro 6-2, 6-0.

“For me, it’s not important for me to win with 50 minutes or three hours,” said Badosa. “Every minute on court counts, and every win counts, and it helps you build your confidence again. I think that’s the key of my match today.”

American women had a good day with Madison Keys, Jessica Pegula and Danielle Collins all advancing.

Jelena Ostapenko, Caroline Garcia and Alize Cornet also made it out of the first round.

Tomorrow, Bianca Andreescu battles Belinda Bencic.

Emma Raducanu returns to face Aliaksandra Sasnovich. Angelique Kerber, Coco Gauff, Leylah Fernandez are in action along with former semifinalist Maria Sakkari who meets Karolina Muchova.

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