The Chinese has fond memories of the Philippe Chatrier court having won the women’s singles gold medal on the same court at last year’s Paris Games.

“I am happy to get this match against a great opponent,” Zheng said.

“Always the first match in a tournament is not easy.”

“That feeling is unforgettable,” she said of her win at the Paris Olympics last year.

“It is the best experience of my life so far. I will carry the gold medal mentality all through this tournament.”

Playing under a closed roof due to rain in the French capital on the first day of the tournament, Zheng broke the Russian in the second game to quickly go 3-0 up.

The eighth seed initially was stretching her opponent with well-placed serves but she stumbled in the sixth game when 33-year-old Pavlyuchenkova broke back and levelled at 4-4.

Zheng quickly recovered and bagged the first set, with a love game on her opponent’s serve.

The pair traded breaks midway through the second set before Pavlyuchenkova was broken again, despite being 40-15 up, when a seemingly simple smash sailed past the baseline and Zheng wrapped up the match on serve.

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