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Aleksandra Wozniak of Blainville, Que., advanced to the second round of the French Open on Tuesday with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 win over Monica Niculescu of Romania.

Playing during an overcast midday period in Paris when all the opening matches were interrupted by rain, Wozniak, the 24th seed, was able to overcome the conditions and a very unpredictable opponent.

Niculescu, 21 and ranked No. 58 on the WTA Tour, is as unorthodox a player as there is in the top 100. Capable of pounding her backhands and forehands hard, she remarkably hits a large number of her forehands with slice or underspin. That would have fit with tennis a century ago, but hardly in 2009. She also mixed in a lot of high lobs or ‘moonballs,’ as well as a heavy dose of drop shots, to break up the rhythm of the hard-hitting Canadian.

Niculescu was also very emotional, occasionally lapsing into tears when things went badly only to quickly snap out of it and get on the with the match. There was also some throwing of her racquet, hitting her head with the racquet and vocal outbursts.

In the decisive third set, Wozniak fell behind 3-1 before winning five games in a row. The momentum shift was not that obvious, more a matter of Wozniak steadying her game and the sturdy Romanian slowly unravelling emotionally.

“She’s a really tricky player, she plays everything – slices, drop shots, volleys…everything,” Wozniak said. “I’m not used to playing players like that because I’m at a high level where it’s really heavy, hard balls and really high intensity. So it was a tricky first round. It was full of emotions. You really want to win so you feel a bit tight during the whole match. I’m glad that I pulled it out and I played smart.”

Part of being smart was adjusting to how Niculescu played.

“At first, I was mixing it up a lot, but she liked that,” Wozniak said. “So I started to hit faster and deeper, really deep. And then I tried to be ready for the short ball (on Niculescu’s reply) but there were so many short balls…it never ended. I had to keep pushing myself to accelerate and hit heavy – away from her into the corners.”

Niculescu was very demonstrative against Wozniak, who normally has an even-tempered demeanour on court.

“It only bothered me once,” Wozniak said. “I said ‘shut your mouth,’ but not really out loud, because she was screaming all the time.”

A year ago, Wozniak reached the third round at Roland Garros. She will next play qualifier Petra Martic of Croatia, who is 18 and ranked No. 196.

Maybe the weather will be better for her second-round match. “It was tough conditions out there – windy, we’re playing in the rain from the beginning of the match, in the middle to the end,” Wozniak said. “You thought they were going to call it off…they didn’t. So you mentally had to stay focused. The rain, the wind, it was so difficult.”