Andrea Petkovic is the first German player to enter the second round of the French Open. The Darmstadt native, who crashed to 107th place in the world rankings, won 7-6 (10), 6-2 against Kristina Mladenovic from France, who was seeded 29th.
Petkovic turned her fourth match point after 1:42 hours on the court of Suzanne Lenglen, the second largest place of the course. In this stadium Mladenovic had kicked the then defending champion Garbine Muguruza out of the tournament a year ago, this time it was the Darmstadt native who caused a small sensation. The crucial point was surely the first set, which Petkovic won with 12:10 after a real battle of nerves.
Petkovic had already surprised at the Australian Open in January, but after her success against the two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic) she was eliminated. In Paris, she will face either Johanna Larsson (Sweden) or Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) in round two.
Petkovic (30) celebrated his fifth victory in the fifth clash with Mladenovic. The former top 10 player, who reached the semi-finals in Paris in 2014, fended off four set points in the first round. The resistance of former junior (2009) and double winner (2016) Mladenovic was broken.