Jasmine Paolini, last season's beaten finalist, had to dig deep to battle past China's Yuan Yue in the French Open first round on Sunday before earning a nerve-wracking 6-1 4-6 6-3 victory. The Italian fourth-seed got off to a sizzling start,

China's Zheng Qinwen followed Sabalenka into the second round, returning to the venue of her Olympic gold last year and thumping 2021 runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova before Lorenzo Musetti eased past Yannick Hanfmann in the afternoon sun.

Italian Lorenzo Musetti found his touch after a tight first set to reach the French Open second round with a 7-5 6-2 6-0 victory over German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann on Sunday, beginning his campaign with the firm intention of winning the title.

Victoria Mboko is an 18-year-old from Canada who has won her Grand Slam debut at the French Open. Mboko beat 2024 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Lulu Sun 6-1, 7-6 (4) on Sunday.

We can expect several of the world’s finest tennis players to see red over the next few days – and not only because that is the colour of the Parisian clay.