Defending champion Rafael Nadal and world No.1 Novak Djokovic won in straight sets on Tuesday as the second round line-up was completed in Paris.
Nadal subdued free-swinging Aussie Alexei Popyrin before Djokovic swatted Tennys Sandgren aside 6-2 6-4 6-2 in the night session.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ash Barty was forced to grit her way to a three-set victory over Bernarda Pera.
Returning to the site of her 2019 tournament triumph, the top seed battled physical issues, plus an inspired opponent, to record a 6-4 3-6 6-2 victory – her eighth straight match win in Paris.
Barty was one of four Aussies advancing in Paris on Tuesday; she was joined in the second round by Alex de Minaur, Astra Sharma and James Duckworth.
Also progressing were Elina Svitolina, Matteo Berrettini, Karolina Pliskova, Diego Schwartzman, Jennifer Brady and Gael Monfils.
Yet two-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova announced her withdrawal after revealing she had sustained a freak ankle injury while undertaking her post-match press commitments on Monday.
Upset of the day
Seventh seed Andrey Rublev arrived in Paris after an impressive clay-court season, during which he beat Nadal on his way to the Monte Carlo final and built a 9-4 record in the surface in 2021.
He was projected to meet Nadal in quarterfinal rematch in Paris.
DRAW: Roland Garros men's singles
Yet world No.42 Jan-Lennard Struff had other ideas.
The big-hitting German built a two-sets-to-love lead thanks to 34 winners, and although Russia’s Rublev recovered to win the next two, Struff broke serve in the third game of the final set – and hung onto that advantage for the rest of the match.
Struff’s 6-3 7-6(6) 4-6 3-6 6-4 triumph sets up a second-round meeting with in-form Argentine Facundo Bagnis.
Nadal, Djokovic advance
Nadal, meanwhile, suffered tense moments of his own throughout his 6-3 6-2 7-6(3) win over Popyrin.
The young Australian went for his shots in the early stages of the match to hang with the 13-time champion, then built a 5-2 lead in the third set before Nadal recovered for his 101st career match win at Roland Garros.
Nadal next faces former top-10 star Richard Gasquet, a 6-1 6-4 6-2 winner over French wildcard Hugo Gaston, a player who caused a stir last year by stunning Stan Wawrinka to reach the fourth round.
Djokovic followed Nadal onto Court Philippe Chatrier and made light work on Sandgren, striking 33 winners against 21 errors and completing victory in under two hours.
Former world No.19 Pablo Cuevas, a straight-sets winner over Lucas Pouille, next awaits Djokovic, who is aiming to win a second straight Grand Slam title in 2021 and his 19th overall.
In other results, No.10 seed Schwartzman – a semifinalist in Paris last year – snapped a four-match losing streak thanks to his 6-2 6-2 6-3 win over Yen-Hsun Lu.
Ninth seed Berrettini stopped Japanese qualifier Taro Daniel in four sets while 14th seed Monfils was another four-set winner, rebounding to beat highly-fancied Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas 1-6 7-6(6) 6-4 6-4 in an atmospheric match at Court Suzanne Lenglen.
Australian men’s No.1 de Minaur advanced in straight sets over Stefano Travaglia and will next meet another Italian in Marco Cecchinato, a player notable for reaching the Roland Garros semis in 2018.
AO 2021 semifinalist Aslan Karatsev beat American Jensen Brooksby in straight sets, while No.20 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime bowed out, losing 6-3 7-6(8) 4-6 6-4 to 37-year-old Andreas Seppi.
Barty wins, but carrying hip injury
The world No.1 forged ahead 5-2 against Pera but at this point, the tenor of the match changed.
Although she was able to serve out the first set on her second attempt, Pera found consistency to match her powerful ball-striking and built a 3-0 lead in set two.
A few games later, Pera stroked a forehand down the line – her 15th winner for the set – to send the match to a third set.
At this point Barty, who already had her left thigh taped, called for the trainer and received a courtside medical timeout.
Since 5-2 up in the opening set, Ash Barty has played more passively, serve speeds also dropped. Bernarda Pera takes the second set 63 and Barty has taken a MTO. Barty already had her leg strapped when she came to court. #RG21
— WTA Insider (@WTA_insider) June 1, 2021
Barty’s movement remained compromised, yet she staved off a break point in the third game and, completely against the tide, won five of the final six games as Pera’s consistency deserted her.
She will next play Magda Linette.
Prior to Barty on Chatrier was No.5 seed Elina Svitolina, who recovered from 5-2 down in the second set to beat French wildcard Oceane Babel.
Fellow top-10 player Karolina Pliskova, a recent Rome finalist, saw off Donna Vekic 7-5 6-4 in a tricky first-round assignment while AO 2021 finalist Brady, a straight-sets winner over Anastasija Sevastova, next takes on French talent Fiona Ferro, who reached the last 16 in 2020.
DRAW: Roland Garros women's singles
It was a good day for the women’s seeds, with Maria Sakkari (17), Karolina Muchova (18), Coco Gauff (24), Ons Jabeur (25), Anett Kontaveit (30) and Ekaterina Alexandrova (32) all advancing.
Alexandrova ended the run of Venus Williams 6-3 6-1, while Jabeur will next face Sharma in a rematch of their recent WTA Charleston 250 final.
Tweet of the day
In a significant match, 2018 finalist Sloane Stephens took on Carla Suarez Navarro, the former world No.6 who was playing for the first time since successfully overcoming Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
And Suarez Navarro, playing her first match in 16 months, came incredibly close to an emotional victory when she served for the match at 6-3 5-4.
Yet Stephens recovered to complete a 3-6 7-6(4) 6-4 win, setting up a second-round match with Pliskova.
Carla I’m so happy to have shared court with you and see you healthy with us in Paris!! You’re an inspiration and we’re all just so glad to have you back on tour again. Welcome home ❤️ pic.twitter.com/s3IxPNJ9rr
— sloanestephens (@SloaneStephens) June 1, 2021
Stat of the day
Incredibly, Nadal has now won 26 consecutive sets at Roland Garros.
The third seed came incredibly close to seeing that streak snapped when Popyrin moved to a 5-2 lead in the third set on Tuesday, and earned two set points two games later.
But the 21-year-old admitted to a "choke" at that stage; he double-faulted on the first set point and missed an overhead on the second, and Nadal eventually broke back before going on to win in straight sets.
The last time Nadal lost a set at the tournament was when he dropped the second set of the 2019 final to Dominic Thiem.
Quotes of the day
"A massive part of today was accepting the fact that, yes, I may not be absolutely 100 per cent but I'm certainly good enough to go out there and fight and do the best I can and give myself a chance to win matches. It's going to be tough now without a doubt."
- Ash Barty
"I thought I played really well. Moved really well. Just overall from later stages of Rome tournament until now, I'm just finding my groove on the court, striking the ball well. Very pleased with the way I am feeling and playing on the court. I'm motivated as anybody."
- Novak Djokovic
"I was super nervous going into today's match, to be honest. Just because I knew she's a tricky player, and she went through quallies. She played really well, great tennis. I'm happy that I was able to fight through it. There was many moments I could have gave up but I didn't."
- Coco Gauff, after beating Aleksandra Krunic 7-6(11) 6-4.
"Of course I don't want to lose the set at all. But here, especially on clay, the matches are best-of-five, the matches are long and it's difficult to hold that kind of level for such a long time, playing with this kind of risk."
- Rafael Nadal, who survived set points against Alexei Popyrin.
"I know that if I don't close the match in two sets, it will be so difficult for me. But I'm really proud, too, of myself and really happy to have the chance to play here one last time."
- Carla Suarez Navarro
Day 4: Ones to watch
Second-round action kicks off in Paris on Wednesday, with top-10 seed Serena Williams, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Aryna Sabalenka and Alexander Zverev headlining the schedule.
Williams will play in the third match of the day Chatrier against Mihaela Buzarnescu before Medvedev follows her onto the same court, bidding to improve on his career-best showing at Roland Garros when he faces American Tommy Paul.
ORDER OF PLAY: Roland Garros Day 4
Sabalenka, on course for a quarterfinal clash with Williams, features in the final match of the Court Suzanne Lenglen against fellow Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, after Tsitsipas takes on Pedro Martinez.
Elsewhere around the grounds, 15th seeds Victoria Azarenka and Casper Ruud will play for places in the third round, with Azarenka up against Danish teen talent Clara Tauson on Court Simonne Mathieu.
Two clashes catch the eye: the Chatrier battle between former top-10 stars Karen Khachanov and Kei Nishikori, and the match-up between Belinda Bencic and Daria Kasatkina, opening the day's play on Mathieu.