World No.1 Carlos Alcaraz issued an early warning to his rivals as the Spaniard began his quest for a second grand slam title by easing past Italian qualifier Flavio Cobolli 6-0, 6-2, 7-5 in the French Open first round on Monday.

The 20-year-old has already cemented his status as a top contender on the biggest stages and is one of the favourites to take on the mantle of his compatriot and 14-time Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal, who is absent this year with a hip issue.

Alcaraz, who missed the Australian Open in January due to a leg injury, was impressive in his first grand slam match since his US Open triumph last year and was ruthless as he raced through the opening set.

A fourth break of the contest early in the second set handed Alcaraz the advantage again before Cobolli finally got on the board in his main draw debut at the majors.

The 159th-ranked Cobolli broke to level the third set at 5-5 with some ripping forehands.

However, the top seed stepped up another gear to ensure Cobolli would leave the tournament with an abiding image of a chastening defeat.

Earlier, Novak Djokovic launched his quest for a record-breaking 23rd men’s grand slam singles title with a no-nonsense 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 (7-1) first-round victory over debutant Aleksandar Kovacevic.

The twice Roland Garros champion breezed through the first two sets before encountering resistance from the 24-year-old American whose lack of experience then showed in the tie-break on the world’s biggest clay court.

Djokovic ended the contest with a sizzling service return on his first match point and will face Hungarian journeyman Marton Fucsovics for a place in the third round.

Felix Auger-Aliassime said he needed to prioritise his health after the ailing world No. 10 crashed out following a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 defeat by Italian veteran Fabio Fognini in the opening round.

The 22-year-old pulled out of the Lyon quarter-finals last week with a shoulder problem and revealed that he had also been unwell during that tournament, with a similar issue hampering his progress in Paris along with a bout of cramp.

Pavlyuchenkova up

In women’s draw, two former runners-up made quite an impression.

Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova celebrated her return to Roland Garros with a dominant 6-2, 6-2 win over Czech Linda Fruhvirtova after fearing for her career a year ago due to a knee problem.

The 31-year-old enjoyed her best run at a grand slam in the 2021 tournament when she reached the final, and skipped last year’s edition as well as the second half of the season to nurse an injury.

Sloane Stephens, runner-up at Roland Garros in 2018, dismantled former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-4.

Racist abuse

Racist behaviour directed at athletes is getting worse and even software designed to protect them from it has little impact, Stephens said after her win.

The American said she had had to endure it her whole tennis career.

“Yes, it’s obviously been a problem my entire career,” said Stephens, who is Black. “It has never stopped. If anything, it’s only gotten worse.”

She did not go into specific details but said even software such as the one available for players at the French Open, which is designed to block racist comments, could not stop it.

“I have a lot of obviously key words banned on Instagram and all of these things, but that doesn’t stop someone from just typing in an asterisk or typing it in a different way, which obviously software most of the time doesn’t catch.”

Stephens said that racism had reached a worrying level.

Nadal, an inspiration

Paris: American Sebastian Korda claimed his first victory since January by battling past Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 at the French Open on Sunday and said he had spent the last few months learning to play again after a wrist issue wrecked his strong start to 2023.

Korda’s hopes of emulating his father Petr’s 1998 Australian Open triumph ended in pain as he retired with a wrist problem in the Melbourne Park quarter final.

The 22-year-old returned to action at the end of April but crashed to early defeats in Madrid and Rome. “I’d say I went two-three months without touching a racket,” he said. “Now I have zero pain in my wrist. Just kind of learning how to play again a little bit.”

Korda enjoyed a breakthrough year at grand slam level in 2020 by reaching the Roland Garros fourth round where he lost to eventual champion Rafael Nadal.

Nadal, 36, is not playing in Paris this year due to a hip problem. “Ever since I started watching tennis he was always the guy,” Korda said.

“He didn’t lose too many times. That’s one of the most impressive things in tennis history, maybe sports history how many times he’s won and how much he’s dominated here...He’s definitely missed, but next year he’ll be back and back to his old ways.”

Reuters