French Open: World No 1 Simona Halep eyes winning start

Simona Halep

World number one Simona Halep will look to kick start her campaign at the French Open on a winning note when she faces America's Alison Riske in the opening round of the women's singles event here on Wednesday.

Earlier, the 26-year-old's opening-round match was postponed following a rain-affected schedule on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Tuesday. As a result, Halep, who will be chasing her maiden Grand Slam title at the Roland Garros, will now begin her campaign in the second major of the season on the fourth day.

The Romanian star is a two-time runner-up at Roland Garros - slumping to a defeat to Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova in the 2014 final before losing to Jelena Ostapenko last year. Halep has endured a roller-coaster clay-court season so far, having made back-to-back quarter-final exits at Madrid and Stuttgart before finishing as a runner-up in Italian Open.

World number 83 Riske, on the other hand, has not clinched a match at Roland Garros since 2014, with Halep also holding a 2-0 career lead over the American. In other important clashes of the day, former world number one and 2016 French Open champion Novak Djokovic will take on Spain's Jaume Munar, while Japanese tennis star Kei Nishikori will meet local favourite Benoit Paire in the second round of the men's singles event.

Earlier, Serbia's Djokovic kick started his campaign with a comfortable 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Brazil's Rogerio Dutra Silva in an opening-round clash. Nishikori, on the other hand, eased past Maxime Janvier of France 7-6, 6-4, 6-3 win to storm into the second round.

Also Read - Simona Halep: I Did Breast Reduction For Tennis

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