PARIS, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese tennis player Liu Fangzhou rallied past Australian teenager Destanee Aiava in full sets in the first round of women's singles qualifiers at the 2018 French Open here on Wednesday.
Liu was the sole Chinese player remaining in the qualifiers following the exit of her three compatriots in the past two days.
The 147th-ranked Liu lost the opening set 6-2, before making timely adjustments to reduce unforced errors, pocketing the next two sets 6-3, 6-3.
Aiava, born in 2000, had a 20-point lead over Liu on winners, while conceding 20 more points due to unforced errors at the same time.
"She played fast in the first set, and I was not quite used to that because I haven't played matches on clay for a long time," Liu told Xinhua.
"Then in the second set, I just focused on every point, and thought that my opponent would make mistakes.
"I felt that I could bring up everything that I trained into the match," she added.
Liu said that she will not put too much pressure on herself despite the goal of entering a main draw.
In other action, Lu Jiajing conceded two sets in a row to the host's favorite Margot Yerolymos, but in a totally different manner.
After the two players held their serves in the first four games, Yerolymos, positioned 484th on WTA rankings, stormed to victory in the following four games and sealed the win at 6-2.
Lu had her response early in the second set, leading 4-1 through three breaks as Yerolymos suffered slump on first serves.
However, Lu could not maintain her momentum throughout, and her French rival came back into the match after winning three straight games.
After forcing a tiebreak in the 12th game, Lu failed on her attempt to drag the match into a decider, although she saved three match points.
Elbow injury was a big factor for Lu's loss, as she could not put everything on her serves.
"I did poorly in the first set because I didn't play any match on clay this season," said Lu, adding that something has been improved in the second set, but she failed to convert some crucial points.
Lu Jingjing was eliminated by British player Gabriella Taylor 7-5, 6-0 in 86 minutes.
Another Chinese player, Han Xinyun, bowed out of the qualifiers on Tuesday.
The Roland Garros qualifiers will run until Friday, with 128 men's players competing for 16 main draw berths and 96 women's players contending for 12 spots.
