Tennis Tracker: Alcaraz wins in French Open first round, Bencic and Kvitova knocked out

22:13 CET - The night draws in across Paris, but Jelena Ostapenko (25) shone brightly in her straight-set victory over Tereza Martincova (28) winning 6-3, 7-5.

Jannik Sinner (21) then wraps up the day's play with a comfortable three-set win over Alexandre Muller (26) 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 to advance. The Italian ninth seed will now face Daniel Altmaier (24) in the second round.

21:41 CET - Petra Kvitova (33) adds her name to the list of seeded players beaten today after she was defeated by Elisabetta Cocciaretto (22) 6-3, 6-4.

Elsewhere, some late French joy on the clay of Roland Garros. Luca van Assche (19) needed exactly two hours to see off Italian Marco Cecchinato (30) 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.

21:16 CET - Another seed has been knocked out in the women's draw with Veronika Kudermetova (26) coming unstuck against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova (28) 6-3, 6-1.

20:53 CET - Frances Tiafoe (25) is the next seed through at Roland Garros with a three-set, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2, victory over Filip Krajinovic (31). 

Another stand-out first round game saw Jiri Lehecka (21) defeat Jan-Lennard Struff (33) in five sets and three hours and 16 minutes by a scoreline 7-5, 1-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.

20:33 CET - French favourite Caroline Garcia (29) fought her way into the second round at Roland Garros by downing China's Wang Xiyu (22) 7-6 4-6 6-4 in a tense affair.

She will now take on Anna Blinkova (24), who beat Ysaline Bonaventure (28) 6-2, 6-0.

19:43 CET - A serene passage into the next round for world number one Carlos Alcaraz (20), who took care of business against Flavio Cobolli (21) 6-0, 6-2, 7-5. Up next for the Spaniard will be Taro Daniel (30).

19:38 CET - Heartbreak for Dominic Thiem (29) as he loses in five sets to Pedro Cachin (28). The Argentine took a two-set lead over Thiem before the 2020 US Open champion battled back to level the game going into the fifth set decider only for Cachin to win it 6-2 and end the near four-hour epic.

19:03 CET - A top 20 seed has exited the tournament in one of the bigger upsets of the day. Belinda Bencic (26) seeded 12 in the world has been knocked out by Elina Avanesyan (20) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.

No such problems for Beatriz Haddad Maia (26), who cruised past Tatjana Maria (35) 6-0, 6-1.

In the men's draw, Marcos Giron (29) needed four sets to see off Hamad Medjedovic (19) 6-0, 6-2, 1-6, 6-0.

18:06 CET - Felix Auger-Aliassime (22) said he needed to prioritise his health after the ailing world number 10 crashed out of the French Open on Monday following a 6-4 6-4 6-3 defeat by Italian veteran Fabio Fognini (36) in the opening round.

The Canadian 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.

"The shoulder is not great, but that wasn't the issue today. I got a bit sick last night, didn't really sleep. That's just a reality," said Auger-Aliassime, who reached the fourth round at Roland Garros last year.

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17:33 CET - Elina Svitolina (28) was the unexpected winner of a short contest against Italian Martina Trevisan (29) in a comfortable 6-2, 6-2.

 17:23 CET - Novak Djokovic (36) 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 (24) at the French Open on Monday.

The twice Roland Garros champion breezed through the first two sets before encountering resistance from the American whose lack of experience then showed in the tiebreak 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.

"It's always a pleasure to come back here, one of the best tournaments in the world," said Djokovic, who made his Roland Garros debut in 2005.

"I'm very motivated to go far here, all the way I hope."

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16:50 CET - Racism behaviour directed at athletes is getting worse and even software designed to protect them from it has little impact, world number 30 Sloane Stephens (30) said on Monday.

The American, speaking after her straight-sets victory over Katerina Pliskova in the French Open first round, said she had had to endure it her whole tennis career.

"Yes, it's obviously been a problem my entire career," said Stephens. "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 that is designed to block racist comments, could not stop it.

"I did hear about the software. I have not used it," Stephens said.

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16:26 CET - World number three Novak Djokovic (36) started his French Open journey on the right foot as he got past Aleksandar Kovacevic (24) 6-3, 6-2, 7-6 in a two-and-a-half-hour contest.

15:32 CET - Another upset! This time in the men's tour, world number 10 Felix Auger Aliassime (22) was knocked by veteran Fabio Fognini (36). The Italian triumphed with a 6-4, 6-4, 6-3 match.

15:30 CET - Former French Open runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (31) celebrated her return to Roland Garros with a dominant win over Czech Linda Fruhvirtova (18) on Monday and said she had feared for her career a year ago due to a knee problem.

She enjoyed her best run at a Grand Slam at the 2021 tournament before losing to Czech Barbora Krejcikova in the final and skipped last year's edition as well as the second half of the season to nurse an injury that limited her playing time.

Pavlyuchenkova said she was forced to go through extensive rehabilitation and stopped playing tennis completely for around five months, with the lack of physical activity during the process leaving her out of shape.

"It was a rollercoaster of emotions because I was sad. I was close to crying, but also sad because I wasn't sure what (comes)after," Pavlyuchenkova told reporters after her 6-2 6-2 victory over Fruhvirtova.

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15:28 CET - Sloane Stephens (30) relished every moment she spent on her favourite court in the world as the she cruised to a 6-0 6-4 first-round victory over former world number one Katerina Pliskova (31) on Monday to put down an early marker at the French Open.

The American, runner-up in Paris five years ago, gave the erratic Pliskova no chance on the main Philippe-Chatrier court, speeding through the first set in 49 minutes before the Czech recovered in the second.

But she kept piling up unforced errors -31 in total - as well as half a dozen double faults, giving Stephens, ranked in the past as high as third in the world, the chance to race back from 4-3 down, break her twice and rattle off the next three games to seal victory.

"This is my favourite court in the world and I am super happy to be back," said Stephens, currently ranked 30th.

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15:03 CET - Cameron Norrie (27) becomes the only Briton to continue in Roland Garros after just over a three-and-a-half-hour animated match with five sets to decide his fate against Benoit Paire (34). Alex de Minaur (24) was also victorious against Ilya Ivashka (29) as well as Denis Shapovalov (24) in front of Brandon Nakashima (21).

13:39 CET - An early upset as world number 16 Karolina Pliskova (31) was knocked out by American world number 30 Sloane Stephens (30) with a 0-6, 4-6 match. 

12:50 CET - Better news for qualifier Kayla Day (23) who has seen off French wildcard Kristina Mladenovic (30) 7-5, 6-1 to set up a all-American second round match against Madison Keys (28), who survived a scare against Kaia Kanepi (37) to win 1-6, 6-3, 6-1.

12:41 CET - It's the end of the road for qualifier Dayana Yastremska (23) after the 22nd seed Donna Vekic (26) has beaten her 6-2, 7-5. Elsewhere, Bernarda Pera (28) battled hard to defeat Anett Kontaveit (27) 7-6, 6-2.

12:22 CET - Day two at the French Open has its first result of the day with the 2021 French Open finalist Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (31) seeing off Czech teenager Linda Fruhvirtova (18) winning 6-2, 6-2 to make her way into the next round.

9:32 CET - World number three Jessica Pegula is not yet a part of the burgeoning "Big Three" rivalry on the women's tour but the American said Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina had earned the right to receive such recognition.

World number one Swiatek, second-ranked Sabalenka and number four Rybakina have won seven tournaments between them this year.

Swiatek has claimed three major titles, including two French Opens, and Sabalenka won her maiden Grand Slam at the Australian Open this year.

Rybakina triumphed at last year's Wimbledon and the three-way rivalry will continue at this week's French Open with the world number one spot up for grabs.

"They've earned that right. They've been playing really solid tennis. Iga, we already know from last year. Aryna I felt like broke through in Australia as far as like winning a slam, but I think her results have always been up there," Pegula said.

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7:16 CET - The obvious standouts are world number one and three Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic playing their opening matches in the French Open. The Spaniard is set to clash with Flavio Cobolli while the Serb with Aleksandar Kovacevic. Other top 10s include Felix Auger Aliassime and Jannik Sinner also beginning their Parisian journey.

Meanwhile, in the WTA equivalent, world number five Caroline Garcia takes on Xiyu Wang as number 10 Petra Kvitova faces Elisabetta Cocciaretto. Other interesting matchups will be the opening rounds for Beatriz Haddad Maia as well as Jelena Ostapenko