Aljaz Bedene continued his good run of form with victory over Ryan Harrison in the opening round of the French Open.
From 3-4 down in the first set, the British number three won nine games in a row and, although he dropped the third, he raced through the fourth to win 6-4 6-0 3-6 6-1.
Bedene arrived in Paris having won 20 of his last 23 matches, taking in two titles on the second-tier Challenger Tour and a run to his second ATP Tour final in Budapest.
The 27-year-old certainly had too much clay-court nous for Harrison, an American ranked 10 places above Bedene at 42 but not built for the 30-plus temperatures that have descended on Paris this week.
Harrison began well but by the end of the first set it was clear how much he was feeling the pace.
When he dropped serve again in the opening game of the second set, the 25-year-old slammed his racket to the clay in anger, but things did not get any better.
Bedene raced through the set in just 18 minutes, allowing a hot and bothered Harrison only seven points.
The American regrouped at the start of the third and exploited a dip in Bedene's play to break for 2-0, going on to take the set.
Cloud cover helped Harrison but the feeling remained that this was Bedene's match to lose and he forged ahead again early in the fourth set.
The British player, who reached the third round here 12 months ago, was coming out on top of the vast majority of long rallies, pulling his opponent all around the court.
His 12th ace on his third match point clinched victory and a second-round date with either 14th seed Jack Sock or Czech Jiri Vesely.
Source: PA
