Jasmine Paolini, last season's beaten finalist, had to dig deep to battle past China's Yuan Yue in the French Open first round on Sunday before earning a nerve-wracking 6-1 4-6 6-3 victory.
The Italian fourth-seed got off to a sizzling start, powering through the first set in 25 minutes and punishing the Chinese with a barrage of deep ground strokes.
Paolini, who last week became the first Italian woman in four decades to claim the Italian Open title, gave Yuan, who littered the court with 14 unforced errors in the first set, no chance.
But as Yuan gradually adapted to the diminutive Italian's game, Paolini's own errors started to pile up and she found herself 4-2 down before the Chinese held serve to draw level.
Paolini, who also reached last year's Wimbledon final, was broken again by Yuan early in the third set when the Chinese fired a sensational backhand down the line to go 3-2 up.
But the 29-year-old late bloomer found a way back into the match and rattled off the next four games to book her second-round spot.
"It was tough," Paolini said. "I won quite easy the first set but then she started to play better. A bit of emotions came out.
"I was then 3-2 down with a break but I did it. Hopefully I will play better then next round. We will see."
She will next face the winner of the all-Australian first round match between Ajla Tomljanovic and Maya Joint.
