Alexander Zverev maintained his near-perfect first-round success rate at Roland Garros as the second seed produced a 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 defeat of Benjamin Bonzi to advance on Sunday’s opening day.

The German who played the final here in 2024 against Carlos Alcaraz, has passed the Paris first round for the tenth time in 11 appearances.

He won in sweltering 33 Celsius conditions, which are expected to last for through the coming Week 1

The 29-year-old who has been bothered by recent back issues due to a busy match schedule, nevertheless has compiled an impressive spring clay record, reaching the Madrid final along with semi-finals in Monte Carlo and Munich.

He stumbled in the Rome Masters run-up, going out in the fourth round to Luciano Darderi as his back worry played up, causing him to withdraw from Geneva.

Zverev made his move into the second round in around two hours over the No 98.

“It was a good start, it’s sometimes as simple as that,” Zverev said, “I won in three sets. 

“It was an opening match against an opponent who can make it difficult against good players. He’s shown that in the past, and I handled it well.

“That’s what I’m the most happy about.”

Zverev advanced to the semi-finals at three of four clay events played this season, highlighted by a run to the Madrid final.

Australian James Duckworth booked the first second-round spot of the fortnight after winning an abbreviated opening match, defeating injured Canadian Gabriel Diallo 6-3, 4-1 in barely an hour.

Karen Khachanov dished out the first French loss of the tournament as he defeated Arthur Gea 6-3, 7-6 (3), 6-0,with the 140th-ranked wild card forced to rush off court at one point for a bathroom emergency.

Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina needed more than four hours to complete a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 defeat of Damir Dzumhur.

“Today was a very tough match, I didn’t expect that it was going to be that hot today,” the winner said.

“I suffered a lot with this heat. At the beginning, I was not feeling very good, so I needed to change a little bit my plans.

“Physically I was struggling a little bit. At the end, I was a little bit lucky
playing two, three shots. I made a lot of winners.”

He said the win needed extra effort after playing last week in the cool 10 Celsius of Hamburg,

The peace talks came after a Friday interview boycott by most top players, who limited their pre-event interactions with media to 15 minutes while snubbing TV broadcasters.

Players are asking for a larger share of Grand Slam prize money, aiming for a rise from 15 to 22 per cent, a figure well below payouts in other spots.

French federation (FFT) officials promised a response to the demands in the immediate future. Confrontations with Wimbledon and the US Open are also likely to proceed during the Paris fortnight.

The Australian Open has already sided with the players when the issue first arose earlier this season.

The FFT “has committed to responding to the players’ proposals in the coming weeks,” the ruling body said.

Players are seeking a closer involvement in the big decisions of the sport along with increased health insurance and retirement benefits.

Sinner, with USD 56 million already in career prize money at age 24, might do well to follow the example of retired icon Roger Federer, who earned 130 million on court and much more off it,

The Swiss, reportedly now a tennis billionaire, often said he would not be needing his ATP pension but was happy to work on behalf of other  players.

French hopes at Roland Garros took a battering on Saturday as national No. 1 Arthur Fils withdrew from the Sunday start of the Grand Slam with a hip injury.

The ATP No. 19 who won the Barcelona title a month ago but had to retire recently in Rome after only four games, said he is unsure of his actual health situation.

“In Rome I felt a little bit (of pain) around the hip. After an exam, everything were looking pretty fine, but still a lot of pain.

“I was not able to practice for the last two weeks.:

The French hope said that a Saturday training session showed him he would be unable to front up for the Sunday start.

“I will not be fit 100 per cent to play the tournament, and I will not take any risk like I did last year (back pain which kept him out for eight months).

“I don’t want to be stupid, you know.”

The 21-year-old with four ATP titles managed the third round here a year ago, then was able to play just two matches until his injury return in February.”It’s just pain bothering me. When I step on the court, it’s just here. It’s never going away.

“If this was the the last tournament of my life, I would have played. But I have 10, 15 more years,”

Fils said his current injury is not the same as his 2025 back problems.

“It’s this (lower back or hip) area that bothering me since couple of weeks, but

I can’t say it now, because I don’t even know myself.”