Defending champion Rafael Nadal and second seed Novak Djokovic started their French Open journeys by registering easy victories in the first round, while reigning Australian Open champion Stanislas Wawrinka suffered an early exit at Roland Garros.
The top-seeded Nadal started his title defence in style by registering an easy 6-0, 6-3, 6-0 win over US wildcard Robby Ginepri . Nadal took just 29 minutes to clinch the opening set and won last 10 games to register a convincing win over the American.
As the scoreline suggests, Ginepri was never in control, he committed 41 unforced errors and offered 19 break points to the defending champion, who fired 27 winners in the match. Nadal will either face Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu or Austrian Dominic Thiem in the second round.
"I won this round, but it was a bit difficult because of the weather," said Nadal, "but it was very important for me, because it gave me the opportunity of having two days' break so that I can practise. That's always positive. When you win, you're always happy. Of course, as always, I had ups and downs, and I could have played being a bit more aggressive."
The second-seeded Djokovic opened his French Open bid with an easy 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Portugal's Joao Sousa in one hour and 46 minutes. Djokovic racked up eight aces and converted eight out of 15 break points in the match.
"I played, for most of the match, quite solid," said Djokovic. "[The] end of the match was not so nice from my side. [I] dropped my serve twice.
The six-time major winner will now face Frenchman Jeremy Chardy in the second round.
"He [Chardy] had a big win against Federer in Rome, so I'm sure he's very motivated to play his best," the Serb said. "But I [have been] looking forward to this tournament for a long time. I'm in good form, and hopefully I can use that against Chardy."
Meanwhile, world number three Wawrinka crashed out of the first round by losing his opening encounter to Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 6-0.
Wawrinka became the first reigning Australian Open champ, after Petr Korda in 1998, to crash out of the French Open in the opening round. The Swiss was broken 12 times while committing 62 unforced errors compared to 28 by Garcia-Lopez.
"I was trying to find my game, trying to find to be aggressive, trying to find anything, and I didn't," said Wawrinka
"It's a tough loss, for sure. I'm sad, but maybe it's going to be very positive for the rest of my season. Maybe it will put my ideas in the right place, and maybe it will give me answers to the questions I have for the rest of my season, for the rest of my career."
Find the French Open Day 2 highlights HERE.
