There’s something about Hugo Gaston and Paris.

Prior to his first-round match against Alex de Minaur on Tuesday at Roland Garros, six of his 16 tour-level wins had come in the City of Lights. Two of his biggest career results have also come in Paris, a fourth-round showing at this event in 2020 and a quarter-final finish last year at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The 21-year-old, No. 74 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, appears primed to create more Parisian memories this fortnight. Gaston fought off cramps and an 0-3 deficit in the fifth set to delight a packed Court Suzanne Lenglen crowd with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 0-6, 7-6(10-4) win over De Minaur.

”The crowd plays a very important role. They supported me right from the beginning,” said Gaston. “I like to share my emotions with the audience, so this helped me. This gave me strength, because it was not an easy task at the beginning and the end of the fifth set. But I used the crowd. They were fantastic, so it was a great moment.”

It seemed that De Minaur would prevail after winning nine consecutive games from the start of the fourth set. Gaston completely flipped the script behind his variety — especially with his drop shot — to serve for the match against the speedy De Minaur twice, at 5-4 and 6-5.

But cramps crept in during the last couple of games before the tie-break. Gaston shook out his legs repeatedly while serving at 6-5, then threw in an underarm serve at 15/40. Although he won the point, causing the crowd to erupt, he was broken again to send the match to a deciding 10-point tie-break. With the fans rallying behind him, Gaston dug deep for another big victory in Paris.

”I came to this Roland Garros with very few matches and some questions on myself,” admitted Gaston. “But my game level was always good. I felt very well on the court and I had a few problems that made it so that I didn’t succeed. If it had been a loss, it would have been difficult to handle, but I gave my best and I’m very happy about the match.”

Gaston is still fueled by the memories of his two previous runs in Paris. He burst onto the scene two years ago at Roland Garros, when he reached the second week with a five-set win over Stan Wawrinka before falling to Dominic Thiem in an epic five-set battle. Last November, Gaston had his ATP Masters 1000 breakthrough by erasing an 0-5 second-set deficit against Carlos Alcaraz, winning 20 of the last 21 points to reach the quarter-finals.

But Gaston believes he’s a better player now than he was during his breakthrough two years ago. With a second-round match looming against Argentine qualifier Pedro Cachin and no chance of facing a seeded player until the fourth round, the Frenchman has the tools to match his run and perhaps surpass it.

“I think my game is better. I feel more strong in my head, in my game and my physical [fitness] also,” said Gaston. “I think I’m also a good person and a better player, too.”

Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski endured a rocky start in their bid for a maiden Grand Slam title together at Roland Garros on Tuesday, but the sixth seeds ultimately advanced to the second round with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over Tallon Griekspoor and Botic van de Zandschulp.

The leading team in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Team Rankings, Koolhof and Skupski have won a Tour-leading four titles in 2022 including a maiden ATP Masters 1000 title at the Mutua Madrid Open in the first week of May. They were broken in the opening game in Paris by their Dutch opponents, who went on to take the first set, but Koolhof and Skupski recovered to complete a one-hour, 53-minute victory with the help of 37 winners.

Second seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic also enjoyed a winning start, overcoming Andre Goransson and Ben McLachlan, 6-2, 7-5. The win extended the Croatian team’s winning streak to 10 following back-to-back title runs in Rome and Geneva in the past two weeks. The streak marks a return to form for the 2021 year-end No. 1 pairing in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings after a trophy-less start to 2022.

There were convincing wins for other seeded pairings as the doubles action got underway in Paris. The 12th seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Marcelo Arevalo brushed past Philipp Oswald and Hans Hach Verdugo 7-6(5), 6-3, while Marcelo Melo and Maximo Gonzalez, the 15th seeds, were 6-4, 6-2 winners over Aljaz Bedene and Filip Krajinovic.

There were some first-round upsets, however, headlined by home favourite Benoit Paire and his Spanish partner Albert Ramos-Vinolas edging past four-time semi-finalists Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah. Paire and Ramos-Vinolas, playing their second tournament of the year together after reaching the quarter-finals in Rio in February, claimed a 7-6 (4), 7-6(4) win over the fifth-seeded Colombians.

David Vega Hernandez and Rafael Matos dispatched 13th seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Andres Molteni with a 6-2, 6-3 win, while last week’s champions in Lyon, Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek, continued their impressive form with a 6-4, 7-6(2) triumph over eighth seeds John Peers and Filip Polasek.

Holger Rune’s breakout 2022 season hit new highs on Tuesday at Roland Garros.

The #NextGenATP Dane upset 14th seed Denis Shapovalov 6-3, 6-1, 7-6(4) for his maiden Grand Slam win in the first round in Paris. The 19-year-old believes his constant desire to raise his level, even after positive results, has been a key driver of his strong form this year.

“Obviously it’s always progress,” said Rune in his post-match press conference. “Even last year I was in the same progress. I’m trying to improve one per cent every day, to always to do things a little better than the day before. I think this has really helped me a lot.”

Rune arrived in Paris ranked No. 40 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, a career high, having claimed his maiden ATP Tour title in Munich at the beginning of May. It is a far cry from where he was a year ago, when he reached the final of an ATP Challenger Tour event in Lisbon as a player ranked outside the Top 300.

“I was obviously far away from playing tournaments [like Roland Garros] but always I had to believe in myself,” said Rune. “I was still young last year, so it was great for me to play these kinds of tournaments at that time.”

Rune’s progression since that week in Portugal was on full display on Tuesday against Shapovalov, a player who defeated Rafael Nadal on the clay in Rome just under two weeks ago. While aware he was facing an established Top 20 opponent, Rune was determined to only concentrate on what he could control in his first tour-level meeting with the Canadian.

“It was definitely a tough match,” said Rune. “Denis can play some unbelievable tennis. For me, it was just trying to focus on what I could do on the court, try to keep holding my serve, try to take every chance I had. I did that pretty good.

“Of course, I maybe could have closed the third set easier than I did. I had a lot of chances, but I’m just happy that I stayed focused and finished the match in three sets.”

Rune had an early taste of the big stage at the US Open last year, when he came through qualifying to take his place in a Grand Slam main draw for the first time. His reward was a first-round meeting with World No. 1 Novak Djokovic on Arthur Ashe Stadium. For Rune, the four-set loss was a key part of his learning curve, but he has now arrived at a point where he wants to turn his potential into concrete results.

“Obviously [playing Novak] was a huge experience for me, so I wouldn’t have replaced that match for any other at that time,” said Rune. “But it’s nice, you know, not to play the best guys in the first round. I would rather wait a little bit.

“Of course, you can’t say that Denis is an easy draw. He’s such a great player. Especially in the Grand Slams, he shows his best tennis.

“I really just tried, as I said, to focus on each point and to keep focusing on myself and not to do so much else.”

With success comes increased recognition, but Rune feels he is becoming accustomed to playing against the biggest names on Tour. Rather than it causing any extra nerves, he sees it as a reward for the hard graft he puts in on the practice court.

“I think it’s nice,” said the Dane. “This is what you work for every day, to be able to play the biggest tournaments. And to play these kinds of players, like Denis, also is great for me. It’s an amazing level.

“I’m super happy and pleased to be in this position right now. To be able to have chances against these guys. To be able to win my first title in Munich was a huge step forward in my career.

“I’m really positive and working hard every day to get better.”

The opening round of men’s singles play will conclude on Tuesday at Roland Garros, while men’s doubles action gets underway on Day 3. Returning finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas opens his tournament against #NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti, closing play on Court Philippe Chatrier, with Casper Ruud and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga squaring off on the Paris centre court earlier in the day in what could be the final match of the Frenchman’s storied career.

World No. 2 Daniil Medvedev headlines the action on Court Suzanne Lenglen and will seek his first clay-court win of the season against Facundo Bagnis. On the outer courts, 14th seed Denis Shapovalov and #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune meet for the first time.

In doubles action, second-seeded Croatians Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic put their nine-match win streak on the line following back-to-back titles in Rome and Geneva.

View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw | View Schedule

[4] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. Lorenzo Musetti (ITA)

Tsitsipas and Musetti square off for the third time since 2021, with the Greek 2-0 in the ATPHead2Head. Tsitsipas enters as one of the form players on the ATP Tour with a 14-3 record on the European clay swing and a tour-leading 30 wins on the season. The Monte Carlo champion’s only clay defeats came against Carlos Alcaraz (Barcelona quarter-finals), Alexander Zverev (Madrid semis) and Novak Djokovic (Rome final).

Musetti has a tall task to prevent his opponent from reaching at least the last four in Paris for what would be a third straight season. The 20-year-old Italian has notched exactly two main-draw victories in each of his four clay events this season, including at the ATP Masters 1000s in Monte Carlo and Madrid, leaving him with an 8-4 record on the surface. He earned the second Top 10 win of his career by beating Felix Auger-Aliassime in Monte Carlo, having previously beaten Diego Schwartzman last year in Acapulco.

Tsitsipas is expecting a stern test from the man who reached a career-high of No. 51 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings earlier this month.

“Lorenzo is a very good player on this surface,” he said. “I have played him before. I think he’s someone that can bring out on the court some good potential and has been, has shown in the past that he’s capable of playing good tennis.

“I’m obviously very happy to be playing [on] these courts again. I know this first-round match is going to really bring the best out of me; at least I will try. It’s going to be the battle of two one-handed backhand players, and I think a pretty interesting match for most spectators to watch on this first round.”

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[8] Casper Ruud (NOR) vs. [WC] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)

Ruud has the unenviable task of attempting to send Tsonga into retirement, with the 37-year-old Frenchman set to hang up his racquet following Roland Garros. 

The Norwegian enters Paris on the heels of his eighth ATP Tour title in Geneva, where he beat Joao Sousa in the final in a third-set tie-break. His 28 clay-court wins and five clay titles in the past 52 weeks are the most on the ATP Tour, according to Infosys ATP Performance Zone stats. 

Tsonga competed in Lyon last week but fell to eventual finalist Alex Molcan in the opening round to drop to 2-6 on the ATP Tour this season. But the former World No. 5 is looking forward to a grand finale at his favourite tournament.

“I feel relieved, because it’s the last tournament, because both my mind and my body have told me that it’s time to stop.” the Frenchman said ahead of a 13th appearance at his home Grand Slam. “I’m also very excited, because I have always wanted and liked to play this tournament. It’s always a highlight in my career.

“I want to go to the court to play a very consistent player, a very good player. I know it will be a tough match, but I’m delighted to be able to have a match like this. I know it will be fun no matter what.”

[14] Denis Shapovalov (CAN) vs. Holger Rune (DEN)

Both Shapovalov and Rune have made deep runs on the European clay in recent weeks. The Canadian defeated Rafael Nadal to reach the Rome quarter-finals, while Rune won his first ATP Tour title in Munich on 1 May. The #NextGenATP Dane also reached the Lyon semi-finals last week, beating three Frenchmen before falling to top seed and eventual champion Cameron Norrie.

Shapovalov was beaten by Ilya Ivashka in his opening match last week in Geneva, but has reached three quarter-finals on the season in addition to a semi-final in Dubai. The Canadian also helped his country win the ATP Cup in January.

The pair will contest their first ATP Head2Head matchup on Court 12, where they will open play.

Best Of The Rest

Medvedev returned in the nick of time from a hernia procedure, playing his first clay event of the season last week in Geneva. Though he bowed out in the opening round to France’s Richard Gasquet, he’ll be pleased to have at least one match under his belt ahead of Roland Garros. His opponent, Facundo Bagnis, was also knocked out in the Geneva opening round but won two qualifying matches to reach the main draw.

After that contest opens play on Lenglen, two Frenchmen are on the second stadium’s slate: Richard Gasquet will take on South Africa’s Lloyd Harris, with Hugo Gaston facing 18th seed Alex de Minaur in the evening.

Seventh seed Andrey Rublev will face South Korea’s Soonwoo Kwon on Court 14, while 11th seed Jannik Sinner faces American qualifier Bjorn Fratangelo on Court 7.

In addition to Mektic/Pavic, three other Top 10-seeded doubles teams are also in action: fifth-seeded Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, sixth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski and eighth seeds John Peers and Filip Polasek.