PARIS -- Emma Raducanu battled through illness to take her French Open opener against Wang Xinyu in three sets at Roland Garros on Monday, and she will be joined in the second round by Jacob Fearnley and Katie Boulter.
Raducanu, 22, ended up coming through 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 against China's Wang, a player just two spots below her in the rankings. This equalled Raducanu's longest match on clay as she needed 2 hours and 44 minutes to get through, while managing sickness. The win will see her play four-time Roland Garros champion Iga Swiatek in the second round.
Elsewhere, Fearnley saw off Swiss great Stan Wawrinka in straight sets 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2. Boulter made it a trio of Brits through to the second round as she dispatched French qualifier Carole Monnet 6-7 (4), 6-1, 6-1. Jodie Burrage was also in action, but she fell to Danielle Collins in straight sets.
Raducanu was first up on Monday and it was a tough battle against Wang, with the Brit requiring medical attention at 6-5 up in the first set. There she had her blood pressure and temperature taken and looked to be rubbing ice underneath her eyes. After recollecting herself, she managed to serve out the first set after returning to the court.
Wang started the second set quickly, breaking Raducanu twice. Raducanu looked low on energy but rallied to break Wang twice, only for Wang to edge out the second set 6-4.
"I think after the second set I went to the bathroom and just really regrouped," Raducanu said.
"I was just thinking to try to get off to a good start more than anything in the third because I knew that would help me keep my spirits up, keep the fight, keep as much energy as I had."
The Brit came to Roland Garros having suffered a back spasm last week at the Strasburg Open. She admitted she wasn't feeling 100% heading into the competition, but in the third set, Raducanu found her rhythm again and broke Wang -- who made 54 unforced errors -- to take control. From there she managed to close things out, taking it 6-3.
"I'm really happy that I was able to do that and give myself a small cushion at the back end," Raducanu said. "I don't know why I just have struggled today. The last few days, just not really been feeling great. I guess I'm managing a few things. But despite all of that, being able to come through against a really tough opponent today, I'm really proud."
Raducanu's next opponent Swiatek spoke about the need to treat the Brit as a serious threat to her own French Open campaign after the Pole swatted aside Rebecca Šramková in their first-round clash on Court Philippe-Chatrier.
"Everybody has a different path, you know, and different changes," Swiatek said. "But for sure she's a great player and has, you know, [a] great forehand. She can use her top-spin pretty well.
"So we played already couple of times, and we know each other's game. For sure I will need to be intense and focus on myself. But for sure ... She won the US Open. She can play great tennis, you know. I'll be ready."
This is just the second time Raducanu has been in the main draw at Roland Garros. And her win over Wang sees her equal her best finish at Roland Garros after she reached the second round in 2022, where she lost to Aliaksandra Sasnovich.
Elsewhere, Fearnley managed to get past Swiss legend Wawrinka. The 40-year-old knows this part of Paris well, given he won the 2015 French Open to sit alongside his other Slam triumphs with the Australian Open crown in 2014 and US Open title in 2016.
But Fearnley, who is quickly moving up the rankings, dispatched Wawrinka with a dominant performance, winning 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-2.
"Stan, those big guys, those guys that have been very successful on the tour, they have that kind of aura about them in a way," Fearnley said post-match.
"I knew it was going to be a tough match. It's difficult, for sure, playing in front of the crowd always screaming his name ... it's not easy. I really enjoyed it, to be honest. I think part of the battle was just not letting that kind of get to my head and not letting his name and his calibre of tennis get into my head. Just focus on myself really."
Boulter made it a trio of Brits through with her hard-fought win over Monnet, but it's Burrage who bows out after losing her first-round match against Collins 7-6 (1), 6-4.
Burrage, ranked 165th in the world, was playing in her first Grand Slam since last year's Australian Open. She missed the majority of the 2024 season due to wrist and ankle problems, but in her first time in the main draw at Roland Garros, she pushed Collins close.