Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the French Open second round on Monday with a commanding win to begin his title defence. World number one Jannik Sinner and three-time defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek also progressed at Roland Garros. Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz hit 31 winners in a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri and will face Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan in the next round. Alcaraz is now on an eight-match winning streak at the French Open, having also won an Olympic silver medal at Roland Garros last year, losing the final to Novak Djokovic. “The first round is never easy, and coming here as a champion is even more difficult,” said the Spaniard, who has won both the Monte Carlo Masters and Italian Open titles on clay this year. “But I started well, found my rhythm, and I’m happy with my start.” Alcaraz defeated Sinner in straight sets in the Rome final just over a week ago as the Italian returned from a three-month doping ban. Two-time reigning Australian Open champion Sinner overcame home favourite Arthur Rinderknech 6-4, 6-3, 7-5 despite a brief third-set wobble in the night session on Court Philippe Chatrier. Sinner will face the retiring Richard Gasquet in the second round after the 38-year-old extended his career with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-3, 6-0 win over wildcard Terence Atmane in his 22nd and final Roland Garros. “I know you’re going to support him [Gasquet], it’s OK, I know that,” Sinner told the crowd, who earlier greeted his arrival on court with loud cheers. “I’m just happy to share a court with him.” The 75th-ranked Rinderknech fought hard and led 4-0 in the third set, delighting the home fans. However, he failed to serve out the set at 5-3, and Sinner roared back to secure a straight-sets victory with a run of five successive games. Taylor Fritz of the USA became the first high-profile casualty in the men’s draw as the fourth seed lost 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to German Daniel Altmaier. Norwegian seventh seed Casper Ruud, a two-time French Open runner-up, started his bid for a first Grand Slam title with a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over veteran Spanish qualifier Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas, the 2021 runner-up, defeated Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina 7-5, 6-3, 6-4. Two-time quarter-finalist Holger Rune of Denmark also progressed, recovering from losing a first-set tie-break to defeat Roberto Bautista Agut in four sets, as did French number one Arthur Fils. Swiatek entered the tournament on a nearly year-long trophy drought but showed signs of form in a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Slovakia’s Rebecca Sramkova. Despite well-documented struggles since her last French Open title, Swiatek broke her 42nd-ranked opponent four times in a strong display. Her remarkable win-loss record in the tournament now stands at 36-2. “I knew I needed to stay proactive and use my weapons. I’m happy with my performance, and it was a solid match,” said Swiatek, who also beat Sramkova in the second round of this year’s Australian Open. Swiatek, now ranked fifth in the world, will next face former US Open champion Emma Raducanu after the Briton defeated China’s Wang Xinyu 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. Raducanu is competing at the French Open for the first time since her second-round exit in 2022. Four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka, who had a match point against Swiatek in the second round at Roland Garros a year ago, was knocked out by Spanish 10th seed Paula Badosa in a tense three-set battle. Badosa, an Australian Open semi-finalist earlier this year, fought back from a set down to win 6-7 (1/7), 6-1, 6-4. Osaka has still never advanced past the third round at Roland Garros. Former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina battled past Argentinian qualifier Julia Riera 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, two days after lifting her first WTA title since April 2022 in Strasbourg. American ninth seed Emma Navarro suffered an embarrassing 6-0, 6-1 loss to Spanish world number 68 Jessica Bouzas Maneiro in just 57 minutes, only winning a game when her opponent double-faulted to gift her a break when serving for a double-bagel victory. However, her compatriot Madison Keys, the reigning Australian Open champion, had no such problems, easily dispatching Daria Saville 6-2, 6-1. (With inputs from AFP)