"This does a lot for my confidence" - Kenin on first round win over Ostapenko at Roland Garros

Fans on Court Suzanne Lenglen were treated to an enticing matchup between former Grand Slam champions on Monday at Roland Garros, as 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin took on 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in a first round clash.

The match lived up to expectation as it went the distance, with last year's finalist Kenin escaping with a 6-4 4-6 6-3 victory.

"I’m a feisty kid and that helps me in these types of matches," admitted Kenin after the match. "I was just fighting out there. Gave everything on the court and never gave up.”

The World No.5 has been out of form prior to Roland Garros, losing all three of her clay-court matches before the second Grand Slam of the season.

"I haven’t been feeling my game the past year, so it’s nice to get this kind of win and playing this type of tennis. You need to have some kind of break, some mini-celebration. I feel like for me, this does a lot for my confidence. This year hasn't been the best in terms of defending my title in Australia. Of course, surgery and everything else. Obviously I can relate to that," added Kenin, who had emergency surgery to remove her appendix in February.

The 22-year old isn't getting carried away after one win in Paris, and is ready to tackle the prestigious tournament one match at a time.

"I'm not looking into what's going to happen later. For me it was baby steps to get through round one, since obviously it's never easy getting through to the first round during a Grand Slam,” added the 2020 Roland-Garros finalist. "Yeah, I'll take one match at a time. That's what I did last year and in Australia. I'll just keep it like that."