Roger Federer made a triumphant return to the French Open, beating Lorenzo Sonego in straight sets in his first match at Roland Garros for four years.
There was defeat, though, for women's fifth seed Angelique Kerber against Russian teen Anastasia Potapova while Elina Svitolina saw off the challenge of Venus Williams.
Last year's runner-up Sloane Stephens made it through along with men's sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas but Marco Cecchinato, a semi-finalist last year, lost from two sets up to French wild card Nicolas Mahut.
Photo of the day
Tweet of the day
Unforgettable day. Je t'aime Paris❤️ pic.twitter.com/cXRebisAuj
— Anastasia Potapova/Анастасия Потапова (@nastiaapotapova) May 26, 2019
Signature fail
Tennis ability ✅Camera signing ability...@StefTsitsipas 😂
🎥: @Eurosport_UK | #RG19pic.twitter.com/q2baeGTazK
— ATP Tour (@ATP_Tour) May 26, 2019
The now-traditional signing of the TV camera proved much trickier for Tsitsipas than his first-round victory over Maximilian Marterer. The young Greek put pen to lens, only to look extremely sheepish when part of the camera fell off.
Pomp and ceremony
Watch live the inauguration of the new court Simonne-Mathieu with the president of the FFT, Bernard Giudicelli, followed by a live musical performance by Thomas Roussel.Facebook : https://t.co/8RUWpuyJLAYoutube : https://t.co/aSCaaGcOEq#RG19
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) May 26, 2019
The French Open is rightly proud of its new show court, Simonne Mathieu, which is situated in the neighbouring botanic gardens and surrounded by greenhouses. The inauguration ceremony included not just speeches but a new musical work by composer Thomas Roussel performed on the court by 15 musicians.
Fallen seeds
Women: Angelique Kerber (5)
Men: Marco Cecchinato (16)
Who's up next?
Bonjour @rolandgarros 😁👋😁👋🇫🇷🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/6qqVOw9Tm0
— Johanna Konta (@JohannaKonta) May 24, 2019
The British challenge gets under way on Monday with Rome finalist Johanna Konta taking on Antonia Lottner and out-of-form Kyle Edmund meeting dangerous Frenchman Jeremy Chardy.
Serena Williams will test out her suspect left knee against Vitalia Diatchenko of Russia while Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic will also take to the new Philippe Chatrier.
Nadal is quite an opponent for German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann in only his second grand slam match. Djokovic begins his quest to hold all four grand slam titles for the second time against Pole Hubert Hurkacz.
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