World No.12 Petra Kvitova kicked off Day 1 action at the French Open narrowly avoiding an upset against Danka Kovinic 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the second round here on Sunday.
For a set and a half, Czech Kvitova looked to be cruising into the second round, only to suddenly find herself dragged into a dogfight against the Montenegrin.
By the end, she was hanging onto her title dreams by the thinnest of threads, coming within two points of defeat before taking the final three games to drag herself across the finishing line.
In the second round, she will face Taiwanese Hsieh Su-Wei, a 7-6((6), 6-3 winner over Lara Arruabarrena of Spain.
--IANS
sam/dg