Muguruza moves safely into second round over Kuznetsova in Paris

PARIS, France - For the second straight year, No.3 seed Garbiñe Muguruza kicked off her Roland Garros campaign by defeating a former champion in the first round - this time, emerging from a tightly contested, rain-delayed affair over 2009 victor Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-6(0), 6-2.

The Spaniard, who defeated 2010 winner Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 6-4 in her opener last year, inflicted Kuznetsova's earliest loss in Paris for 15 years. The only time the 32-year-old had previously fallen at the first hurdle here was on her debut in 2003, when she was beaten 3-6, 7-5, 11-9 by No.18 seed Meghann Shaughnessy.

Describing the contest as a "second-week match", Muguruza paid tribute to her illsutrious opponent afterwards. "She has a good technique, good vision of the game," remarked the former World No.1. "I feel very encouraged by this kind of a match... this is going to reinforce me. It was a very good first round, and the fact that I won, although it was a very difficult match, it was a match against an expert."

Muguruza was open about needing the reinforcement, given her subpar warm-up results on clay this year. Having lost her opening matches in both Stuttgart and Rome and falling in the third round of Madrid, the 24-year-old used those experiences to help her today. "The last matches I lost, the results were very tight," she explained. "I know that sometimes I'm going to be more lucky than others, and that's what I was thinking this time. I know that there was a key point where I turned the situation around, and the first set gave me more confidence."

As might have been expected from a clash between two of the most accomplished names in the draw, little was given away easily in the opening stages with the first five games all going to deuce. Kuznetsova paid the price for the slower start, with poor movement and a netted volley seeing the Russian slip 0-2 down.

The former World No.2 has not been in peak form this year, having only returned from a six-month layoff due to a wrist injury in March and compiling just a 3-6 win-loss record since then. But after fending off two break points to go 0-3 down, Kuznetsova began to steadily turn the clock back, slamming several vintage vicious forehands and demonstrating formidable prowess at the net, where she would win the point 80% of the time in the first set.

By contrast, Muguruza's net instincts took some time to awaken. The 2016 French Open champion was repeatedly undone in the forecourt by either loose mistakes or tentative volleys that allowed her opponent to slot passes past her. Kuznetsova, meanwhile, would fire a magnificent backhand down the line en route to breaking back, and when she held two points to move up 4-3 after constructing her finest rally of the match, the World No.43 seemed to have the upper hand.

With her back to the wall, though, Muguruza responded with a champion's determination.The 24-year-old had never lost in the first round here, nor had she lost to Kuznetsova in their five previous meetings - and she was in no mood to see either of those streaks broken. A backhand down the line of her own saw the Wimbledon champion regain the break.

A spate of errors serving for the set meant that when rain finally became too heavy for play to continue, the scoreline was locked at 5-5 - but Muguruza returned from the delay with renewed focus and sharper volleying, dominating the ensuing tiebreak with fine serving to shut Kuznetsova out completely, 7-0.

The 2004 US Open champion's battling qualities were still on display throughout the second set, and Kuznetsova conjured up some of her best tennis to stave off four break points and come through a five-deuce game for 1-1. When asked to repeat the feat two games later, though, Muguruza's intensity proved too much - and this time, sending the Russian flailing as she chased groundstroke bullets around the court, it was the World No.3 who emerged from four deuces with the precious break.

Kuznetsova's Race position is just No.171, and her lack of match wins began to show: despite the occasional flash of genius, she was unable to sustain her best form sufficiently to keep up with Muguruza as the scoreline began to slip from her. Another tight mini-tussle in the fifth game failed to regain Kuznetsova's foothold in the match - and despite coming up with some more magnificent shots to save two match points in the final game, a shank over the baseline sent the former World No.1 into a second round tie against wildcard Fiona Ferro.