Zhang Shuai of China celebrates after the women's singles second round match against Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus at the French Open Tennis Tournament 2017 in Paris, France, on May 31, 2017. Zhang Shuai won 2-1. (Xinhua/Chen Yichen)
PARIS, May 31 (Xinhua) -- China's Zhang Shuai bettered her previous record in her eighth appearance at the French Open with a second-round victory, while defending champions Novak Djokovic and Garbine Muguruza took different paths to their last 32 berths here on Wednesday.
Zhang, the only Chinese women's player alive in the singles event, beat Aliaksandra Sasnovich 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 in their third duel. She has met Sasnovich twice in previous Grand Slam tournaments, including a two-set win at the Australian Open this year.
Two players tied 1-1 going into the game, before Zhang took on a break to win three games in a row for a 4-1 lead. Another break earned her a 6-2 victory in the first set.
The Belarusian won the opening two games in the second set, while Zhang made a quick response to level the score. However, Sasnovich rode on a three-game winning streak to pave the way for her comeback into the match.
Zhang got back the advantage in the decisive set, and when she was one point from the win, Sasnovich hit a poor backhand, which was ruled outside by the referee.
"Every time I play against her, I need to be pretty careful, because she is quite resilient," Zhang said of Sasnovich's performance.
Zhang set up a third-round clash with the eighth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, who also eliminated Frenchwoman Oceane Dodin in three sets.
The Chinese duo of Peng Shuai and Duan Yingying also recorded a victorious day during their first-time partnership in the doubles event, as they overcame Varvara Lepchenko and Evgeniya Rodina 6-1, 7-5.
2016 men's singles champion Novak Djokovic swept past Joao Sousa 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 in just over two hours, while his counterpart in women's singles Muguruza had to come from one set down to record a 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 victory over Anett Kontaveit.
"I started a little bit more nervous and also she went for it. She took her chances. She was playing very aggressive and very accurate," said Muguruza.
Other men's seeded players, including Rafael Nadal, Milos Raonic and Dominic Thiem, also found their position in last 32, but local favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga crashed out from an interrupted first round against Renzo Olivo at 7-5, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 6-4.
Women's No. 11 seed Caroline Wozniacki finished a double bagel in just 52 minutes against Canadian qualifier Francoise Abanda, joining the 10th-seeded Venus Williams and local player Kristina Mladenovic.
Petra Kvitova, who just came back from a hand injury, stopped her journey at Roland Garros as she lost two tiebreaks to Bethanie Mattek-Sands.
The No. 6 seed Dominika Cibulkova finished in a disappointing manner with a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Ons Jabeur.
