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| French No.1 Bartoli fights her way through to round two |
Roland Garros 2013 Day 3: Bartoli back from the brink
On a rain delayed third day the French Open had its first view of World No.1 Novak Djokovic. The top seed was pushed by the diminutive and talented David Goffin.
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| Goffin put up a fine fight against the four-time Australian Open champion |
The Belgian drew on his run to round four twelve months ago to play some wonderful tennis against the 2012 finalist.
But the World No. 58 could not quite produce at the crucial moments and Djokovic came through 7-6(7-5), 6-4, 7-5 to book a round two meeting with Argentina's Guido Pella who battled past Ivan Dodig 12-10 in the fifth set.
Elsewhere in the Men's draw there were first round wins for two men who have been in excellent form in 2013 - Stanislas Wawrinka and Tommy Haas.
In one of the toughest first round match-ups three-time semi-finalist Jelena Jankovic battled past Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 7-6(9-7) after clawing her way back from 0-5 down in the second set.
While British No.2 Heather Watson's first round meeting with Stefanie Vogele was moved back to day four due to the rain but former British No.1 Elena Baltacha made her Grand Slam comeback and went down against a superb Marina Erakovic who fired 29 winners.
Match of the Day: Bartoli (13) vs Govortsova (U)
A day after Gael Monfils' epic victory the Philippe Chatrier crowd were treated to another home player going the distance as Marion Bartoli battled for over three hours to edge past Belarusian Olga Govortsova.
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| Govortsova's heavy hitting was impressive throughout |
Hard hitting Govortsova led 5-3 in the opener but was broken when she served for the set in the tenth game.
In a gripping tie-break the Belarusian World No.63 held a set point at 6-5 but saw Bartoli come back and take it 10-8.
A rain delayed held up proceedings in the second set and it was the lower ranked player who capitalised smacking a forehand return winner to break Bartoli in the 10th game and level the match.
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| Bartoli fought furiously to stay alive |
Bartoli, a semi-finalist in Paris two years ago, broke in the opening game of the decider but was broken straight back.
Govortsova broke with a backhand pass to lead 5-3 and served for the match.
The 24 year-old reached match point but netted a forehand. A second chance came and Govortsova watched helplessly as Bartoli fired a backhand return winner.
Having been a point from defeat the French No.1 broke back, held and broke Govortsova again to serve for the match at 6-5. The 28 year-old fended off three break points and eventually clinched the victory with a service winner on her fifth match point to come through 7-6(10-8), 4-6, 7-5.
Watching the 2007 Wimbledon finalist I'm reminded of the nerves that affected Amelie Mauresmo playing at Roland Garros but then everything that Bartoli does, the endless shadow swings and bunny hops, looks nervous. But she competes and fights hard and can hit some superb shots with her double handed groundies.
In round two she will take on Colombian qualifier Mariana Duque Marino and will hope for considerably less drama.
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