German second seed Alexander Zverev enjoyed a comfortable first-round win on the opening day of Roland Garros on Sunday as 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic started his latest tilt at making history with a hard-fought win.
Under a blazing sun in Paris, Zverev eased past France’s Benjamin Bonzi 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
The 29-year-old said it was “always nice to start with a straight-sets win”, and he will doubtless have been glad to spend as little time on court as possible with the thermometer going past 30C in the French capital.
The only blip for Zverev in an otherwise polished performance was conceding a break of serve in the second frame against the world number 95 but he swiftly righted course to claim that frame.
He will next face Czech Tomas Machac, who earlier beat Belgium’s Zizou Bergs 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.
Djokovic came from a set down to beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4 and book his spot in the second round.
The 24-time major champion Djokovic is seeking to win a fourth Roland Garros crown, which would send him beyond Margaret Court as the player with the most Grand Slam titles in the history of the sport.
“His service is practically impossible to see… Only once or twice in my career (have I seen a serve like it),” Djokovic said on-court of his big-serving opponent.
It was a first victory on the red dirt of the season for the 39-year-old after he skipped the vast majority of the clay-court swing due to a shoulder issue.
Djokovic showed his rustiness by blinking first in the opening set as Mpetshi Perricard got the Parisian crowd on their feet with a break of serve in the 11th game, before holding comfortably to get his nose in front.
Djokovic managed to engineer his first two break points of the match in the sixth game of the second frame but failed to convert as the 22-year-old roared back to ensure the set stayed level at 3-3.
But the Serb, one of tennis’ all-time great returners, was starting to get the measure of the 2.01-metre Mpetshi Perricard’s bullet serve and eventually got the break he so desperately craved in the 12th game of the second set to level the match.
When Mpetshi Perricard sent wide a stretched forehand after chasing down a Djokovic drop shot, it was the first break point converted by the former world number one out of 10 across the set.
With his eye now firmly in, Djokovic wasted no time in getting ahead in the third frame as he broke the former world number 29 in the second game to race into a 3-0 lead.
The unrelenting Djokovic then won three of the next four games to claim a rapid-fire third set.
The pair exchanged breaks right at the start of the fourth set before the match settled back into its earlier ebb and flow.
Djokovic struck again to get 4-3 ahead, this time serving out to book his spot in the round of 64, where he will face another Frenchman, Valentin Royer.
Karen Khachanov of Russia also advanced into the second round with a straight-sets win over French wild card Arthur Gea.
Czech 26th seed Jakub Mensik made similarly short work of another French invitee, Titouan Droguet, as the 20-year-old strolled through 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.
Brazilian 19-year-old Joao Fonseca then put on a clinical display to see off hometown qualifier Luka Pavlovic without dropping a set.
Former French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova was the highest-profile departee of the day as the world number 41 was eliminated 6-7 (7/9), 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 by American 26th seed Hailey Baptiste.
She was joined in exiting Roland Garros by fellow former major winners Emma Raducanu and Sofia Kenin, who both lost their respective opening matches.
Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk earned her 12th consecutive win on clay as she eased past Oksana Selekhmeteva, who was born in Russia but obtained Spanish nationality four days ago, 6-2, 6-3.
The Madrid Open champion then revealed that her family home in Kyiv was nearly struck by a Russian missile during a massive bombardment of the Ukrainian capital earlier on Sunday.
“This morning, 100 metres from my parents’ house, a missile fell,” the 15th seed said on-court.
“I’m obviously very happy to be in the second round. All my thoughts and all my heart was to the people of Ukraine today. My biggest example are Ukrainian people today.”
Kostyuk will meet Katie Volynets in the round of 64, after the American beat France’s Clara Burel in straight sets.
Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic opened play on Court Philippe Chatrier with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Austrian qualifier Sinja Kraus.
Last year’s junior winner, Lilli Tagger, was downed in her debut match in the senior draw at Roland Garros as the Austrian 18-year-old lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to Chinese 32nd seed Wang Xinyu.
Russian teenager and eighth seed Mirra Andreeva navigated her way past 181st-ranked Fiona Ferro of France in straight sets.
© 2026 AFP
