Elina Svitolina, the third seed, recovered from a mid-match meltdown to defeat Mexican qualifier Renata Zarazua 6-3, 0-6, 6-2 and advance to the third round of the French Open on Wednesday.

The 178th-ranked Zarazua, who became the first Mexican woman to win a Grand Slam main draw match in more than 20 years, came into the contest having never faced a top-20 player in her career.

Zarazua, celebrating her 23rd birthday, soon found her footing and started converting her errors into winners. It was, however, not enough as Svitolina took the opening set with another break of serve.

But if Svitolina hoped for a quick outing, she was in for a rude shock as Zarazua handed her a bagel to level the match.

The world No.5, however, managed to calm herself down in the decider and shifted gears to seal the match.

Rafael Nadal continued his quest for a record-extending 13th French Open title with a 6-1, 6-0, 6-3 crushing of American Mackenzie McDonald to advance into the third round.

The Spanish second seed, also looking to equal Roger Federer’s record of 20 singles Grand Slam titles, was never bothered on court Philippe Chatrier.

“My objective is to play as well as I can... I’m very happy,” said Nadal.

Former runner-up Sara Errani accused Kiki Bertens of exaggerating injury after losing a fierce three-hour second-round clash. Dutch fifth seed Bertens left the court in a wheelchair screaming in pain after saving a match point and looking close to collapsing with cramp near the end of her 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 9-7 win.

There was, however, no sympathy from Errani. “I don’t like, you know, when somebody is joking on you. She played an amazing match... One hour she’s injured, then she runs forever. I don’t like that.”

Top seed Simona Halep put in a disciplined performance to tame big-hitting compatriot Irina-Camelia Begu 6-3, 6-4, extending her winning run to 16 matches.

World No.3 Dominic Thiem survived a third-set wobble to beat American qualifier Jack Sock 6-1, 6-3, 7-6 (10-8). US Open winner Thiem needed just 25 minutes to break the 28-year-old Sock, a former top 10 player, three times and storm through the first set.

The Austrian third seed, beaten by 19-time Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal in the last two Roland Garros finals, was brimming with confidence on his favourite clay surface after winning his first Grand Slam title at this month’s US Open.

Victoria Azarenka’s unhappy French Open campaign ended when the former world No.1 was beaten 2-6, 2-6 by Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova in the second round.

Britain’s Heather Watson joined compatriots Andy Murray, Johanna Konta, Dan Evans, Cameron Norrie and Liam Broady in exiting Roland Garros after a 6-7 (4-7), 4-6 defeat by Fiona Ferro, leaving no Briton in the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time since 2013.

The relief was clear for Russian 13th seed Andrey Rublev as he came back from the brink to beat American Sam Querrey in five sets. Trailing by two sets and 2-5 to the big-serving Querrey, Rublev recovered to turn the match around and win 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 in three hours and 17 minutes.

What made his victory all the more remarkable was that when the tournament began on Sunday, Rublev was 900-km away in Hamburg beating Stefanos Tsitsipas to claim his third ATP title of the season which has seen him rocket up the rankings.

Tsitsipas clawed his way back from two sets down to beat little-known Jaume Munar 4-6, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 on Tuesday.