Muguruza adavances as Mladenovic battles pain

DEFENDING champion Garbine Muguruza moved safely into round two of the French Open — but the home nation almost lost its great hope on only t he second day of t he tournament.

Kristina Mladenovic has been one of the standout players of 2017 and arrived in Paris with ambitions of becoming the first French winner of a singles title at Roland Garros since Mary Pierce in 2000.

However, a back problem suffered in practice on Sunday almost put paid to her chances before she had started. She needed all her fighting spirit to defeat Jennifer Brady 3-6 6-3 9-7 in a match that lasted one minute short of three hours.

Mladenovic left the court for treatment after losing the first three games and cried at the end having finally served out the victory at the third time of asking.

She explained: “I did a wrong movement and I blocked my back. If it were not Roland Garros, I wouldn’t have walked into the courts today. That’s to tell you how bad this was.

“This morning was way better but it was bad still for being at the top level of playing. And especially on the serve.

“I thought I was out of this tournament. But I took some medications when I went off at 3-0, and the doctor said to give it a try and see. I played out there for three hours and I was just trying to find a way. I just dug in. I was down a set. I was down 3-0 in the third. I don’t know how I did that.”

Mladenovic is due to face former runner-up Sara Errani in the second round tomorrow and she is confident she will have recovered.

She said: “It’s nothing dangerous and bad, and it can release in couple of hours or a couple of days. I’m lucky I have a good team around me.”