Singapore’s Zeng Jian, 27, made a winning start on her Olympic debut as she overcame nerves to eke out a gritty 4-3 victory over Croatia’s Ivana Malobabic in the Women’s Singles Round of 64.

The defending SEA Games women’s singles champion started off strongly on the front foot, as she easily won the first two sets, 11-5, 11-3.

However, Malobabic, also making her Olympic debut, fought back to take the third set, 13-11.

Zeng then put aside that blip to take the fourth set, 11-6, and with victory within sight, the Singaporean made a series of unforced errors as nerves started to creep in, allowing Malobabic to level the game at 3-3, as the Croatian won the next two sets 11-9, 15-13 to take the tie into a decider.

Digging deep, Singapore’s number one ranked player then delivered the knockout blow to Malobabic, clinching the decider 11-5 to move on in Paris.

She will face India’s Sreeja Akula in the Round of 32, after the Indian despatched Christina Kallberg of Sweden in straight sets, 11-4, 11-9, 11-7, 11-8.