Djordje Mihailovic converted a penalty as the United States pounced early in a 4-1 victory over New Zealand on Saturday to stave off possible elimination at the Olympics.

A loss in Marseille could have ended the Americans’ chance to advance to the knockout round for just the second time. The U.S. had lost to France in its Group A opener.

Mihailovic calmly hit the penalty in the eighth minute after Nathan Harriel was brought down in the box by Matthew Garbett.

Four minutes later, senior player Walker Zimmerman, a defender, made it 2-0 when he poked in a goal in a scramble in front of the net following a free kick.

“It’s kind of do-or-die time,” Zimmerman said. “We knew it would come down to the start that we would have, and to get an early goal just was huge. Kind of gave us confidence to really get into the tournament.”

Gianluca Busio scored on a rebound at the half-hour mark and celebrated by dancing with teammate Kevin Paredes. Busio later left the game with what appeared to be a hamstring injury, but he said it was just a precaution.

Paxten Aaronson added a fourth goal for the United States in the 58th and New Zealand avoided the shutout with Jesse Randall’s late goal.

“For me, the most important thing is that we get there,” U.S. coach Marko Mitrovic said. “In some games, everything goes on your side. Sometimes it just goes the other way. The game against France was a game of inches, and today we were good at the first two opportunities ... When you get in a game with 2-0 at the very beginning it’s obvious it’s a much easier game after that.”

New Zealand’s 2-1 opening victory over Guinea had put the team in a strong position to advance. The OlyWhites, as they are known, started the day second in the group to France.

The United States is set to play Guinea in its final group match Tuesday in Saint-Etienne. New Zealand plays France in Marseille.

Mitrovic said he’s not scoreboard watching.

“I don’t do the calculation. We never spoke about how we have to win, we have to tie,” the coach said. “We want to maximize every day and we want to maximize every game. Today we spoke before the game that every second on the field matters, that every action matters. And what we have to do is go and execute all those seconds and actions on the field and let’s see where that’s going to take us.”

New Zealand advanced to the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Games three years ago.

French Open champs win tennis openers

Iga Swiatek and Carlos Alcaraz got the Paris Olympics tennis competition started with first-round victories Saturday under closed roofs at Roland Garros, the site of their French Open titles less than two months ago.

Novak Djokovic also won in straight sets as he, like Swiatek and Alcaraz, opened a bid for a first Olympic gold medal. Djokovic’s second-round opponent could be longtime rival Rafael Nadal, who was scheduled to play his opening singles match Sunday — but said he isn’t sure whether he will remain in that event.

In Saturday’s last match, Angelique Kerber defeated Naomi Osaka 7-5, 6-3 in a contest between two women who have been ranked No. 1 and own multiple Grand Slam titles. Kerber has said she will retire after representing Germany at these Games; Osaka was hoping for a deeper run than her third-round exit at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago after lighting the cauldron during the opening ceremony in her native Japan.

Synchronized divers win first U.S. medal

China won its first gold medal in diving on Saturday on the first full day of competition in the Paris Olympics, a perfect start for the team of Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen.

China has ruled diving for decades, and three years ago in Tokyo it won seven of eight gold medals. But it has never pulled off the elusive gold sweep. That’s the goal this time.

The Chinese were first on Saturday in the women’s synchronized 3-meter springboard with 337.68 points on five dives. They were followed by Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook of the United States 314.64 points and the British team of Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen with bronze and 302.28 points.

Host France claims gold in men’s rugby

In a seven-minute clinic that’ll long define his legacy, Antoine Dupont scored two tries and created another to deliver a coveted gold medal for France and end two-time champion Fiji’s Olympic dominance in rugby sevens.

One of the world’s best rugby players, Dupont was saved for the second half on Saturday in a tactical ploy that worked to perfection when he swung momentum with his first touch of the ball and then guided France to an emphatic 28-7 victory.

The mercurial playmaker skipped the Six Nations tournament and switched his attention from the traditional 15s format to rugby sevens in March to chase his once-in-a-lifetime chance to win an Olympic gold medal on home soil.

He can return to the French XV as an Olympic champion, at least partly erasing the pain of his Rugby World Cup disappointment on home soil last year.

Canada downs Greece in men’s basketball

Canada was tested, then held on to get its first Olympic win in 24 years.

RJ Barrett scored 23 points, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 21 and Canada survived a big effort from Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat Greece 86-79 in the Paris Olympics opener for both teams in Group A play on Saturday night. Antetokounmpo led all scorers with 34 points for Greece.

Other winners on Day 1: Victor Wembanyama and France over Brazil, Australia over Spain and World Cup champion Germany over Japan.