Ashleigh Barty acknowledged it will be a "tough" week for her at the French Open as she plans to play through the pain at Roland Garros.
Barty – champion in Paris back in 2019 – had to take a medical time out during her first-round tie with Bernarda Pera on Tuesday.
The Australian world number one struggled with a hip issue, yet still progressed with a 6-4 3-6 6-2 win.
"It's going to be a little bit tough this week. I think over the weekend we had a bit of a flare-up through my left hip, which obviously just needed a bit of help today, needed some assistance to try and release it off as best I could," the 25-year-old said in her post-match news conference.
"I'm not going to hide behind the fact I'm not quite 100 per cent but I can guarantee that I will go out there with the right attitude every day and be really accepting of that and give it a crack no matter what.
"We're confident in that we can get my body to a point where I'm able to compete. We're here, we're fighting, we're in with a chance, and that's all we can do."
Magda Linette is next up for Barty on Thursday, the Polish player defeating Chloe Paquet in straight sets.
COCO CARRIES ON HER FORM AS SEEDS REACH ROUND TWO
Fresh from her triumph in both the singles and doubles in Parma, and a run to the Internazionali BNL d'Italia semi-finals, Coco Gauff started her campaign with a tough win over qualifier Aleksandra Krunic.
Gauff, the 24th seed, certainly had to do it the hard way, with the 17-year-old clawing back four set points in the opener, but some brilliant first serves – she landed 71 per cent of them – got her through in straight sets.
It brought up Gauff's first win at a grand slam as a seed. She is ranked at 25th in the world, making her the youngest American woman to make it into the top 25 since Serena Williams in 1998.
Wang Qiang will face Gauff in round two in what is a repeat of the Parma final.
Meanwhile, three other big names also made it through. Former world number one and 2017 French Open semi-finalist Karolina Pliskova overcame her close friend Donna Vekic 7-5 6-4, while fellow Czech Karolina Muchova came from behind to beat Andrea Petkovic 1-6 6-3 6-4.
With Petkovic's exit, there are no female players from Germany in the second round at Roland Garros for the first time since 1958.
Fifth seed Elina Svitolina is also through to round two after coming back from a break down in the second set to beat teenager Oceane Babel 6-2 7-5.
"It's a first time for her to play here in the main draw of the grand slam and to face the sixth player in the world it's extremely tough," Svitolina said of her young opponent.
"I think she dealt very well with it and she went for her shots in the second set and made life very difficult for me."
SUAREZ NAVARRO MAKES COMEBACK
Carla Suarez Navarro overcame Hodgkin lymphoma earlier this year, after revealing last September that she had been diagnosed with the rare cancer.
Suarez Navarro won that battle and is now cancer free, but in what she said will be her last appearance at Roland Garros, she slipped to a defeat to 2018 finalist Sloane Stephens.
The Spaniard took the first set 6-3 and forced a tiebreaker in the second, but it was Stephens who edged it before taking that momentum into the decider to claim a 3-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-4 win.
Djokovic thrilled by prospect of 'one last dance' with Nadal
Novak Djokovic is thrilled by the prospect of meeting Rafael Nadal for "one last dance" at the Paris Olympics, if the Spaniard overcomes an injury setback to feature at Roland-Garros.
Thursday's men's singles draw saw Djokovic paired with Australia's Matthew Ebden in the first round, with Nadal taking on Marton Fucsovics.
The legendary duo – who have won 46 grand slam singles titles between them – will meet in the second round if they both advance through their openers this weekend.
Djokovic and Nadal have previously faced off on 59 occasions, with the Serbian winning 30 of those contests but losing four of the last six, the most recent being a Nadal victory in four sets in the 2022 French Open quarter-finals.
Nadal's participation at the Games was thrown into doubt when his coach Carlos Moya said he had suffered a "setback" on Thursday and required 48 hours of rest.
If Nadal – who is widely expected to retire later this year – does make the tournament, Djokovic is looking forward to the prospect of facing him for a 60th time.
"Obviously he hasn't played much. His ranking dropped, so there was always going to be that possibility of me meeting him in an early round and there we go," Djokovic said.
"It's going to be a spectacle, definitely, if we get to meet. We will spread some fireworks on the court, like the good old times.
"I hope we get to meet because it will probably be one last dance for the both of us."
Djokovic is set to appear at his fifth Olympics in the French capital, the joint-most by any male player since the sport returned to the Games in 1988 (with Yen Hsun Lu).
He is the player with the most matches played (19) and joint-most matches won (13, level with Roger Federer) at the Olympics since 1988.
However, his best result at the Games remains a Bronze medal at Beijing 2008, when he was beaten by eventual gold medallist Nadal in the semi-finals.
Djokovic lost the bronze medal match to Pablo Carreno Busta at the delayed Tokyo Games three years ago, also losing to Juan Martin del Potro at both London 2012 and Rio 2016.
Linette dominates first all-Polish WTA final to win Prague Open
Magda Linette rounded off her Olympic preparations in style as she claimed her third WTA title with a comfortable win over Magdalena Frech at the Prague Open.
Linette, who beat Viktoriya Tomova and Linda Noskova on her way to the final, won in straight sets 6-2 6-1 as she now heads to Paris to face Mirra Andreeva.
The world number 41 was in the ascendency from the off, forcing a break in the fourth game and never looking back.
Despite the best efforts of Frech, who saved one set point, Linette continued to apply the pressure and another break put her a set up.
Linette would again break in the fourth game of the second set, winning three games on the bounce to secure her first career win over her compatriot.
Data Debrief: Linette prevails in first all-Polish affair
The final in Prague between Linette and Frech was the first all-Polish WTA level final in the Open Era.
Linette's triumph over her opponent was her first, having lost in the pair's previous encounter in Saint-Malo back in 2022.
During the contest, the world number 41 gave nothing away, saving all four of the break points she faced while converting three of the seven she had against Frech.
Nadal suffers injury 'setback' as Olympics participation thrown into doubt
Rafael Nadal may be facing another injury setback at the Paris Olympic Games after his coach warned over the Spaniard's fitness.
The 22-time major champion is widely expected to retire at the end of this year, though is preparing for a final swansong at Roland-Garros, where he has won 14 titles.
Nadal is set to play in the singles and doubles tournaments of the Olympics, partnering current French Open and Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz for the latter competition.
Yet his participation has become doubtful after coach Carlos Moya confirmed Nadal had cancelled his training session on Thursday due to a hamstring issue.
"It was a setback and we decided that today Rafa would rest and not train to recover," Moya said, as quoted by Spanish journalist Rafael Plaza.
"We are going to give ourselves 48 hours, we have to wait."
The 38-year-old is reportedly feeling soreness in both his left and right hamstring having pulled out of a scheduled practice session with Alexander Zverev.
Alcaraz had been partnering Nadal throughout the week during training on the clay courts of Paris, though the veteran's feature has now been thrown under a cloud of doubt.
Nadal is one of just two players to have won Olympic gold in both singles and doubles since the sport returned to the Games in 1988, doing so at Beijing 2008 (singles) and Rio 2016 (doubles).
In the singles in the French capital, Nadal has been drawn against Hungary's Marton Fucsovics in the opening round, and the prize could be a second-round date with long-term rival Novak Djokovic.
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