Osaka, Zverev survive Roland Garros horror shows
Japan's Naomi Osaka battled back from a set and a break down to reach the Roland Garros second round on Tuesday while Grand Slam under-achiever Alexander Zverev needed four hours to get through his opener.
Top seed Osaka, bidding to add the French Open to her US and Australian Open titles, defeated Slovakia's Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 0-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.
However, she came within a whisker of becoming only the second top seed to lose in the first round in Paris in the modern era after Angelique Kerber in 2017.
"I was really close, so it hurts I lost so many chances," said Schmiedlova.
"Maybe I felt like it was against the world number one. It was not easy in my head."
World number 90 Schmiedlova, who hadn't won a match at the tournament since 2014, twice served for victory in the 10th and 12th games of the second set.
At one stage, she was just two points away from a famous victory.
But Osaka, who had arrived in Paris still feeling the effects of a hand injury suffered in Rome, ...