Osaka begins Roland Garros campaign with straight sets win

Paris: World number two Naomi Osaka had to dig deep to defeat Romanian Patricia Maria Tig 6-4 7-6(4) as the four-time Grand Slam winner began her French Open campaign on the opening day on Sunday hoping to improve on her record at the claycourt major.

Osaka has not made it past the third round at her previous appearances at Roland Garros and arrived in Paris with only three matches under her belt on clay after early defeats in Madrid and Rome. But the Japanese four-time major winner showed no signs of being distracted on a sun-bathed Philippe Chatrier court by the lively debate after her announcement that she would not hold press conferences at the French Open for mental health reasons.