Second seed Alexander Zverev got his French Open title bid off to the perfect start with a 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 thrashing of Lithuanian Ricardas Berankis on Sunday.
The 21-year-old, who arrived at Roland Garros on a hot streak of form after titles in Munich and Madrid before an Italian Open final loss to Rafael Nadal, stormed to victory in only an hour and 10 minutes.
Zverev lost in the first round last year to Fernando Verdasco, but the German confidently avoided a repeat and enhanced his credentials as a serious threat to Nadal’s hopes of an 11th title.
The world number three did not face a single break point in the match, and broke his 92nd-ranked opponent’s serve seven times in a totally one-sided contest.
Zverev, who has never reached a Grand Slam quarter-final, will meet either Czech Jiri Vesely or Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic in the second round.
Dimitrov tops Egyptian lucky loser
Bulgarian fourth seed Grigor Dimitrov reached the French Open second round with a 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) win over Egyptian lucky loser Mohamed Safwat.
Dimitrov, who has never got beyond the third round in Paris, had been expecting to face experienced Viktor Troicki.
However, just minutes before he was due to go on court, Troicki withdrew with a back injury, allowing world number 182 Safwat to make his Grand Slam debut. In the process, he became the first Egyptian since Tamer El Sawy at the 1996 US Open to feature in a major.
“I was warming up and my coach said, ‘hey look’ and we saw up on the board that I was playing a different opponent,” said 27-year-old Dimitrov, a former Wimbledon semi-finalist. “I didn’t expect that.”
Dimitrov took advantage of a nervous start in the first two sets by Safwat who has won just one top-level match all year.
The Bulgarian was 3-0 up in the first and 4-0 in the second set to build a foundation for victory.
Safwat needed treatment for blisters on his right hand before putting up solid resistance in the third set before Dimitrov raced through the tiebreaker.
Dimitrov faces either Jared Donaldson of the United States or Chile’s Nicolas Jarry for a place in the last 32.
Nishikori passes first test
Japan’s Kei Nishikori saw off the challenge of French youngster Maxime Janvier to book his spot in the second round at Roland Garros.
The 19th seed had to work hard to get past the plucky 21-year-old wildcard, but was always the stronger player in a 7-6 (7/0), 6-4, 6-3 victory on Court One.
Nishikori has risen back up the rankings after a strong clay-court season, which included a final loss to Rafael Nadal in Monte Carlo, having missed the early months of the campaign with right wrist injury.
The world number 21, who reached the French Open quarter-finals in 2015 and 2017, will next take on either home hope Benoit Paire or Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena.
Janvier started brightly, with Nishikori having to stave off five break points in the fifth game as the opening set went to a tie-break.
But the former world number four raced through the breaker without dropping a point as Janvier appeared to feel the pressure.
From then on Nishikori was always in control, although he did have to save two break points to serve out the second set, before easing through the third.
Earlier, Damir Dzumhur became the first player to enter the men’s singles second round with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-2 win over Denis Kudla. He will play Radu Albot who notched a gritty fightback win Gregoire Barrere beating him 4-6, 0-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-2
All results
Men, 1st rd
Corentin Moutet (FRA) bt Ivo Karlovic (CRO) 7-6 (9/7), 6-2, 7-6 (7/5)
Martin Klizan (SVK) bt Laslo Djere (SRB) 7-6 (8/6), 4-6, 7-6 (8/6), 6-1
Gael Monfils (FRA x32) bt Elliot Benchetrit (FRA) 3-6, 6-1, 6-2, 6-1
Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP x10) bt Jozef Kovalik (SVK) 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (7/5)
Jared Donaldson (USA) bt Nicolas Jarry (CHI) 6-3, 4-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x4) bt Mohamed Safwat (EGY) 6-1, 6-4, 7-6 (7/1)
Matteo Berrettini (ITA) bt Oscar Otte (GER) 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1
Kei Nishikori (JPN x19) bt Maxime Janvier (FRA) 7-6 (7/0), 6-4, 6-3
Lucas Pouille (FRA x15) bt Daniil Medvedev (RUS) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4
Damir Džumhur (BIH x26) bt Denis Kudla (USA) 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
Radu Albot (MDA) bt Gregoire Barrere (FRA) 4-6, 0-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-2
Alexander Zverev (GER x2) bt Ricardas Berankis (LTU) 6-1, 6-1, 6-2
With inputs from AFP
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