Daria Gavrilova breathed a sigh of relief after staging a tense fightback to break her French Open first-round jinx in Paris.

Without a win at Roland Garros since 2015, Gavrilova was staring down the barrel of another painful premature exit at the hands of Sorana Cirstea before rallying to a 4-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 win over the feisty Romanian.

Australia’s 24th seed pulled herself together during a 45-minute rain delay.

Before that, Gavrilova appeared to be unravelling, receiving a code violation for racquet abuse after dropping serve for a fourth time to fall behind a set and 2-0.

“I battled the rain, my opponent, the nerves, so it’s pretty nice to get through. I feel a little bit relieved,” Gavrilova told AAP after booking a date with unseeded American Bernarda Pera for a place in the last 32 for the first time.

“Last time I won a round was three years ago and I actually battled an injury.

“So I feel like clay is my best surface and I did put a lot of pressure on myself and I didn’t play great.

“It’s nice to get through and I thought I was pretty tough out there mentally.”

As well as overcoming the conditions and the scoreboard deficit, Gavrilova found it impossible to block out the distraction of her opponent’s running battle with the chair umpire.

Time and time again, Cirstea was in dispute with the official.

“I actually have no idea why,” Gavrilova said.

“I didnt know what she complained about. I was, like seriously, why is she complaining?

“I was curious myself. I didn’t know.”