STEFANOS Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev are lucky to survive the first round of the French Open after slow starts almost cost the Hamburg European Open finalists. A tight turnaround between the ATP500 event and the Grand Slam meant some soreness for the talented top 15 players, but neither would have expected to go two sets down against their respective opponents at Roland Garros.

In a match that lasted three hours and 12 minutes, it took the fifth seeded Tsitsipas five sets to come from behind against world number 109, Jaume Munar. Whilst the rising Spanish 23-year-old has shown some promising signs over the past couple of years, he almost caused the upset of the first round by racing away to a 6-4 6-2 lead against the Hamburg runner-up. It was clear Tsitsipas was not his usual self throughout the match, serving just six aces – as well as six double-faults, and hitting 54 winners throughout the contest.

Munar played well with 38 of his own winners and won 36 per cent of his points off Tsitsipas’ serve, breaking him five times from seven opportunities. With just 21 unforced errors Munar had an incredible game, but Tsitsipas stepped up when it counted to win 4-6 2-6 6-1 6-4 6-4.

Relieved just to get a win, Tsitsipas said he was not feeling it early on and struggled to get into the game, but was pleased to work his way back into the contest.

“Playing a best-of-five [match] can be very challenging and I am really happy that I will walk away from [Court] Suzanne-Lenglen today with a win,” Tsitsipas said post-match.

“I don’t think I’ve ever played a match like this before. “The emotions and the nerves at the very beginning were not there, but [I made] slight adjustments and tried to find a way to win, a different way. “It wasn’t working out for me in the beginning. Nothing was working… But I am really proud of myself, the effort I put in and the amount of dedication.”

Rublev had a tougher challenge against a highly rated Sam Querrey, in what was a titanic struggle over three hours and 17 minutes. Querrey stepped up in the opening two set tiebreakers to claim a 2-0 love, and was at 5-2 with a break in hand. It seemed as though the Hamburg champion was headed for an early exit at Roland Garros, before the Russian won five consecutive games – breaking his opponent twice – to take the third set. From there, Rublev had the momentum and he never lost it, winning 6-7 6-7 7-5 6-4 6-3.

It was Rublev’s first win at Roland Garros and now he sets his sights on a clay court talent in Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina who defeated French teenager, Harold Mayot for a spot in the Round of 64, 7-6 6-3 7-5. It was not a good day for the French with the home nation representatives dropping like flies. Aside from Mayot, Gilles Simon, Richard Gasquet, Ugo Humbert, Gregoire Barrere and Quentin Halys all lost on day three, leaving just three Frenchmen in the Round of 64.

Simon put up a fight against ninth seed Canadian Denis Shapovalov before the youngster and newest top 10 player won 6-2 7-5 5-7 6-3, while Humbert won a set but had a shock loss to Australian lucky loser Marc Polmans in a disappointing defeat for a player who last start knocked off world number four Daniil Medvedev, 6-2 6-2 3-6 6-3. Halys took Marcos Giron to five sets but lost 8-6 in the fifth in a four-hour and 22-minute loss, while Gasquet and Barrere were beaten in straight sets by seeds, Roberto Bautista Agut and Grigor Dimitrov.

Meanwhile number one seed Novak Djokovic looked like he had some place to be, dismantling rising Swede Mikael Ymer in just 98 minutes, 6-0 6-2 6-3 barely breaking a sweat on his way to the second round. The only quicker match was Roberto Carballes Baena stunning Steve Johnson 6-1 6-1 6-0 in 83 minutes, almost unheard of for a three-set match. Matteo Berrettini had a similarly one-sided result against Vasek Pospisil 6-3 6-1 6-3, while Cristian Garin and Dusan Lajovic both made their way into the Round of 64 with four-set wins over Philipp Kohlschreiber and Gianluca Mager respectively.

Way out on Court 12, Brazilian clay courter Thiago Monteiro added to a horror fortnight for 31st seed Nikoloz Basilashvili after the clay courter lost in the first round defending his Hamburg title, and then was bundled out in straight sets first-up against Monteiro at Roland Garros, 7-5 6-4 6-2. In unseeded matches, Slovenia’s Andrej Martin, Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas, South African duo Lloyd Harris and Kevin Anderson, Lithuania’s Ricardas Berankis and Hungary’s Attila Balazs all advanced through to the next stage of the tournament.

Picture: Peter Staples/ATP Tour