Petra Kvitova began her comeback journey with a strong 6-3, 6-2 win over Julia Boserup in the first match of the 2017 French Open on Sunday at the Philippe-Chatrier Court.

The former world No 2 sped away to a quick 3-0 lead in the first set and looked to be on course to get a double break lead for 4-0 in the set, when her American opponent put up a stiff resistance to put herself up on the scoreboard.

Boserup’s late-sprung defiance continued right up to the ninth game of the set, with Kvitova serving to the lead in the match. Kvitova was up 40-0 in the game, but Boserup methodically eliminated all three set points to bring the score to deuce. A couple of points later, she saved the fourth set point, before Kvitova brought up her fifth set point and converted it with a winner off her forehand.

The second set unfolded in almost a similar fashion as the first, with Boserup losing her opening service game in the first service game of the set. The Czech player had no problems whatsoever in consolidating the break to go up 2-0 in the set. A second break of serve on Boserup’s serve in the seventh game saw Kvitova serve out the match on her terms to advance to the second round.

The fifteenth seed didn’t look to be rusty at all and was particularly pinpoint when it came to scoring winners. She hit 31 winners to her opponent’s nine and had 20 unforced errors to Boserup’s 13. Kvitova put in nine aces and had five double faults to Boserup’s tally of zero aces and three double faults.

Speaking to former French player Marion Bartoli on court, after her win, Kvitova, while thanking the gathered fans and her coaching team, overwhelmingly shared, “Thank you very much guys. It was a pleasure [playing here]. Thank you very much.”

The former French Open semi-finalist will now play the winner between Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Evgeniya Rodina in the second round.