French Open: Stefanos Tsitsipas recovers from two sets down to beat Lorenzo Musetti | Tennis News

Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame a two-set deficit against Lorenzo Musetti to advance to the second round at Roland Garros a year after blowing a two-set lead in the final against Novak Djokovic; Karolina Pliskova, Paula Badosa and Simona Halep come through in the women’s draw

Stefanos Tsitsipas survived a first-round scare to defeat Lorenzo Musetti at the French Open

Last year’s French Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas battled back from two sets down to defeat Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti in a late-night thriller at Roland Garros.

The Greek star treated fans Court Philippe Chatrier with a marathon encounter which finished at 12.35am local time.

Tsitsipas, who blew a two-set lead in last year’s final against Novak Djokovic, came through 5-7 4-6 6-2 6-3 6-2 to reach the second round where he will play world No 134 Zdenek Kolar.

The fourth seed hit 64 winners and fired 10 aces, fighting back to beat the talented Italian on the back of a strong first serve.

Pliskova, Halep survive scares while Badosa impresses

Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova came from a set down to beat France’s Tessah Andrianjafitrimo 2-6 6-3 6-1 to reach the second round of the French Open.

There were more routine wins for third seed Paula Badosa, who beat wild card Fiona Ferro 6-2 6-0, and ninth seed Danielle Collins, a 6-0 6-4 winner against Viktoriya Tomova.

Former champions Simona Halep and Jelena Ostapenko also secured victories.

The Romanian overcame a second-set blip to beat 18-year-old Nastasja Schunk 6-4 1-6 6-1, while the 2017 champion ended a five-match losing streak with a 6-1 6-4 win over Lucia Bronzetti to advance to the next round.

She will meet home favourite Alize Cornet, who saw off Japan’s Misaki Doi in straight sets.

Madison Keys came back from a break down in the deciding set to close out a 6-3 3-6 6-4 win over Anna Kalinskaya. She will play home hope Caroline Garcia, who beat Taylor Townsend in straight sets, for a place in the third round.

Aryna Sabalenka needed three sets to overcome France’s Chloe Paquet.

The seventh seed made 13 unforced errors in the first set, more than four times her opponent, but fought back to seal the victory, hitting a total of 42 winners.

Don’t forget to follow us on skysports.com/tennis, our Twitter account @skysportstennis & Sky Sports – on the go! Available to download now on – iPhone & iPad and Android