The first serious candidate for the title to enter the running, the Ukrainian Marta Kostyuk (15th) easily won on Sunday at Roland-Garros, at the dawn of a Parisian fortnight which started in strong heat.
The recent winner of the Rouen and Madrid tournaments, played on clay like Roland-Garros, won 6-2, 6-3 against Russian Oksana Selekhmeteva (88th) to secure her place in the second round.
On the Simonne-Mathieu court, the Ukrainian scored her twelfth victory in a row on the ocher surface, where she remains undefeated in 2026.
Her next opponent will be the American Katie Volynets (108th) or the French Clara Burel (1,486th), who must immediately succeed her on the Simonne-Mathieu court, the third in the hierarchy of the Paris tournament.
Other contenders for the men’s or women’s title must enter the fray later today, such as the finalist of the 2024 edition Alexander Zverev (3rd), the triple winner of the tournament Novak Djokovic (4th) or the Russian Mirra Andreeva (8th), all scheduled for the Central.
The German will face Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi (95th) in the second rotation, before Andreeva’s match against another French player, Fiona Ferro (200th).
In search of a record 25th Grand Slam title in Paris, Djokovic will play in the evening on the Central, against the French elite server Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (83rd).
On the Suzanne-Lenglen court, the first Frenchman entered on Sunday, Arthur Gea (135th), was led one set to zero at the end of the morning by the Russian Karen Khachanov (15th).
After a cold and rainy start to the week, the second Grand Slam of the season started on Sunday under bright sunshine and temperatures around 30°C. The mercury is even expected to exceed 35°C in the coming days.
For her part, the Swiss Belinda Bencic qualified without problem for the 2nd round of Roland-Garros. The St. Galloise dominated the Austrian Sinja Kraus 6-2 6-3.
