French Open 2018: Simona Halep comes back from set down to enter second round; Petra Kvitova, Elina Svitolina win

Paris: Top-ranked Simona Halep put aside a terrible start and came back to claim 12 of the last 14 games, beating 83rd-ranked Alison Riske of the United States 2-6, 6-1, 6-1 to reach the second round of the French Open. It was the last match of the tournament’s opening round. [caption id=“attachment_4488587” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Halep gestures after defeating Alison Riske in her first round match at the French Open. AP[/caption] Halep, the runner-up at Roland Garros in 2014 and a year ago, played poorly in the first set, with only four winners and 16 unforced errors. But she had 16 winners and 12 unforced errors the rest of the way, while Riske made more and more mistakes. Two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova is through to the third round, making light work of 91st-ranked Lara Arruabarrena of Spain in a 6-0, 6-4 win on Court 1. Eighth-seeded Kvitova lost in the second round last year when she was coming back to the tour after a knife attack in her home in 2016 that left her needing surgery on her left hand, her playing hand. The Czech player made the semi-finals at Roland Garros in 2012. Elina Svitolina saw off Roland Garros debutante Viktoria Kuzmova of Slovakia 6-3 6-4 to reach the third round. The Ukrainian fourth seed, coming off a successful defence of her title in Rome, played solid tennis throughout to set up a meeting with Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu. Kuzmova, having beaten 2010 champion Francesca Schiavone in the first round, was no pushover in the opening set but there was little she could do when the Ukrainian stepped up a gear. After an early trade of breaks in the second set, Svitolina, twice a quarter-finalist in Paris, broke her opponent’s serve again for 4-3 and held to close it out without a scare. With inputs from agencies