Paris: Top-ranked Victoria Azarenka survived a scare in the first round of the French Open. The Australian Open champion, who took over the No. 1 ranking by winning in Melbourne, came back to beat Alberta Brianti of Italy 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-2 on Monday.
Brianti, a 32-year-old veteran who has won one WTA title in her career, won the first set and then led 4-0 in the second before losing six straight games.
Although Azarenka won 12 of the last 14 games, she struggled with her game throughout, committing 60 unforced errors.
Azarenka started the 2012 season with a 26-match winning streak. Her first loss came in the quarterfinals of the Sony Ericsson Open. She is now 35-4 this year.
In another first round match, defending champion Li Na, however, easily beat Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-2, 6-1 on Monday.
The seventh-seeded Li became the first Chinese player to win a Grand Slam singles title when she won at Roland Garros last year. She also reached the Australian Open final in 2011 but lost to Kim Clijsters.
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