Third seed Carlos Alcaraz made a winning start in his bid to claim a first French Open title when he beat American JJ Wolf 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 without any obvious problems on his troublesome right forearm on Sunday.

Last year’s semi-finalist arrived at Roland Garros with only four matches under his belt on clay due to the issue that forced him to skip Monte Carlo, Barcelona and Rome, with his Madrid title defence also derailed in between.

“I had low expectations coming into the tournament but after the practice week, after this first round, well, the confidence is higher.

“My expectations probably got higher after today’s match, but let’s see,” Alcaraz told reporters.

“All I can say is I’m feeling great on the court. I felt amazing in this match, so hopefully keep going.”

Having previously expressed lingering worries and wearing a compression sleeve, the 21-year-old Spaniard drew gasps from the crowd on Philippe Chatrier court when he dropped serve in the first game of the contest but he responded instantly.

Wolf, a lucky loser from the qualifying tournament making his second appearance in the Paris main draw, struggled to keep up with his opponent thereafter and the 25-year-old was broken three times in a one-sided opening set.

“Everybody told me I must go to 100 per cent on every forehand, but I don’t feel as comfortable as before to play every forehand and forget my forearm,” added Alcaraz, whose utter dominance belied the fact that he was playing within himself at times.

Under grey skies, Alcaraz quickly doubled his advantage in the contest and then raced ahead 3-0 under the roof in the third set, after rain began falling, before closing out the match when Wolf sent a shot long.

Tough encounters

Fellow seeds Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz advanced with hard-fought wins.

Madrid champion and sixth seed Rublev was pushed hard by Taro Daniel before securing a 6-2, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3 7-5 victory while Polish eighth seed Hurkacz was dragged the distance by another Japanese player in Shintaro Mochizuki.

Hurkacz returned from a rain break to seal a 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3 victory.

Earlier, thousands of spectators made their way through the gates, with their panama hats and sunglasses put to good use in the bright afternoon sunshine before the umbrellas came out.

With fit-again 14-times champion Rafael Nadal back in Paris but only playing fourth seed Alexander Zverev on Monday, they gathered in large numbers to see Alcaraz showcase his skills.

French hopes of a first men’s champion since Yannick Noah’s triumph more than four decades ago were dampened somewhat earlier as their No.1 player and 17th seed Ugo Humbert crashed to a 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 defeat by Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

But with Caroline Garcia, Richard Gasquet, Chloe Paquet and Corentin Moutet all playing, French fans were out in full force.

Osaka advances

Four-time grand slam champion Naomi Osaka laboured past unseeded Italian Lucia Bronzetti 6-1, 4-6, 7-5. Returning from a 15-month maternity break this year, Osaka had fallen in the first round at the Australian Open in January but looked set to breeze into the second round in Paris as the former world No.1 bombarded Bronzetti from the baseline.

She dominated the first set but her unforced errors rose steeply in the second, allowing Bronzetti to break in the crucial game at 5-4 and force a decider. However, the 26-year-old Japanese player got back on track in the deciding set.