Stefanos Tsitsipas held off a spirited comeback from Jiri Vesely to reach the second round of the French Open on Sunday with a four-set win.
The Greek fifth seed, who blew a two-set lead to lose the 2021 final to Novak Djokovic, won 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) on Court Philippe Chatrier.
He will next face either Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena or qualifier Emilio Nava.
Tsitsipas appeared to be cruising to victory after battling through the first two sets.
But world number 455 Vesely, who had previously only played in two second-tier Challenger events this year, forced a fourth set.
The Czech left-hander should have pushed the match into a decider, but saw four set points slip away in the fourth-set tie-break before Tsitsipas clinched a round-two place with a crunching forehand winner.
jc/dj
