Simona Halep overcomes wobble to reach French Open second round after stern test from lucky loser Nastasja Schunk

Former French Open champion Simona Halep overcame lucky loser Nastasja Schunk in a hard-fought three-set win in the first round at Roland-Garros. Following a series of first-round casualties, including sixth seed Ons Jabeur and defending champion Barbora Krejcikova, Halep was out to avoid an early upset of her own in her first Grand Slam with new coach Patrick Mouratoglou. Ad/> The Romanian was severely tested by Schunk, the 18-year-old German who was making her Grand Slam debut, but the 2018 winner eventually came through 6-4 1-6 6-1.

Roland-GarrosFrench Open: Who has the best draw? Who are the dark horses?20/05/2022 AT 08:17 World No. 74 Qinwen Zheng is the next challenge for Halep, who could collide with No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek in the fourth round.

Halep is viewed as the second favourite for overall victory in Paris behind Swiatek, making that potential fourth-round meeting a mid-major showdown to look out for, should both players win their next two matches. As well as Zheng, 2017 winner Jelena Ostapenko could also have something to say about that, with the No. 13 seed taking on Alize Cornet in the second round and maybe Halep in the third.

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