Novak Djokovic began his pursuit of a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title in fine style as the Serb defeated Mackenzie McDonald 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 in the first round of the French Open.
Fresh off claiming his 100th tour title at Geneva last weekend, Djokovic booked his place in the round of 64 at Roland Garros with a straight-sets win over his 98th-ranked American opponent in under two hours.
The only hiccup for the 38-year-old sixth seed was his failure to serve out the second set at 5-2, but Djokovic swiftly remedied his error by breaking McDonald to 15.
"It is great to return here a year later. I don't know how many future Grand slams I have left in my hands but this is special," Djokovic said in a post-match interview.
"I feel good and here even better because I can relive the Olympic Games here. Today it was a solid match throughout all three sets.
"I know I can play at a better level than today but I am satisfied. There is the chance to make further history and that is the biggest motivation to work, improve and be here."
In the women's section, Coco Gauff forgot her racquets when she arrived on court to open her French Open campaign but that did not stop her from powering into the second round.
The number two seed arrived on Court Philippe-Chatrier for her match against Australia's Olivia Gadecki only to realise she had left her equipment in the locker room.
"They were supposed to be in my bag," Gauff told the chair umpire.
A ball boy brought the racquets and Gauff brushed aside 91st-ranked Gadecki 6-2, 6-2 in one hour and 11 minutes.
"I'm blaming it on my coach," she joked. "Honestly, as long as I've been on tour, my coach has always put the racquets in the bag before the match because he's very superstitious."
However, she said the oversight helped ease the tension before her opening match at the second Grand Slam of the year.
"Usually I'm very nervous and I was a little bit today but I think I was the least nervous heading into the first round of a Grand Slam and then the whole racquet situation took a load off too," he said.
"After that, maybe it probably relaxed me going into the match, because it was just such a funny thing.
"So I'm just happy to get through today and I will remember my racquets for next time."
Tunisian star Ons Jabeur did not make it through as Magdalena Frech secured an ultimately comfortable 7-6, 6-0 vict0ry.
Also, former world number one Daniil Medvedev of Russia paid the price for an early meltdown as he stumbled out with a 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, 7-5 first-round defeat by Britain's Cameron Norrie.
Medvedev's composure disintegrated as he surrendered eight consecutive games after opening a 3-1 lead in the first set, his frustration boiling over in a series of animated gestures towards his bewildered coaching team.
With the vocal support of the Simonne Matthieu court crowd, however, the 2021 US Open champion found his groove despite the windy conditions to win the third set and bag the fourth easily after claiming a remarkable 16 consecutive points.
Norrie, who reached the semi-finals at the Geneva Open last week, was out of ideas on how to outwit Medvedev, who broke for 2-1 in the decider with a lightning-fast passing shot.
The Briton, however, found the resources to break back before wrapping up victory on his first match point to hand 11th seed Medvedev his sixth first-round loss at Roland Garros.
