PARIS, May 24 (Xinhua) -- Novak Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, and second seed Alexander Zverev headlined the opening day of the 2026 French Open on Sunday with hard-fought victories, while American seventh seed Taylor Fritz suffered a shock exit.

Djokovic, the three-time Roland Garros champion, rallied from a set down to defeat local favorite Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 5-7, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4, advancing past the opening round for the 22nd consecutive year at Roland Garros. The victory marked Djokovic's 102nd career win at the French Open and his 403rd overall at the Grand Slams.

"I played him for the first time and it's practically impossible to see where he'll serve," Djokovic said of his opponent after the game.

Djokovic will next face France's world No. 74, Valentin Royer, in the second round.

Germany's Alexander Zverev, the 2024 runner-up, dispatched Frenchman Benjamin Bonzi 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 to secure a second-round clash with Czech Republic's Tomas Machac.

"Very good start to the tournament. It's always good to start with a win in straight sets," said Zverev.

The tournament's first major casualty came when men's seventh seed Taylor Fritz was sent packing by wildcard fellow American Nishesh Basavareddy. The 148th-ranked Basavareddy bewildered Fritz with a masterclass in drop shots to seal a memorable 7-6(5), 7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-1 victory.

"He was hitting insane drop shots, like, off balls that were landing on the baseline. He killed me with that," Fritz admitted after the match.

In the women's singles draw, No. 32 seed Wang Xinyu of China survived a stern first-round test at the 2026 French Open on Sunday, defeating reigning girls' singles champion Lilli Tagger of Austria 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to advance to the second round.

The victory marked another milestone for the 24-year-old Chinese, as Wang secured the 20th Grand Slam main-draw win of her career by closing out the match.

China's qualifier Wang Xiyu stormed into the second round of the French Open on Sunday, delivering a commanding 6-3, 6-1 victory over Montenegro's Danka Kovinic at Roland Garros.

The victory marks Wang's second career main draw win at the clay-court Grand Slam, repeating her success from 2024, after wrapping up the opening-round encounter in one hour and 18 minutes.

Wang, 25, landed 69 percent of her first serves (36/52) and won 58 percent of those points (21/36). Her second-serve performance was even more striking, as she claimed 63 percent of the points (10/16), severely limiting Kovinic's opportunities to break back.

In total, Wang won 64 points throughout the match, 23 more than Kovinic's total of 41, underscoring a flawless performance that seals her spot in the second round of the women's singles tournament.

Elsewhere, eighth-seeded Russian prodigy Mirra Andreeva, 19, showed no signs of nerves as she brushed aside France's Fiona Ferro 6-3, 6-3. Swiss 11th seed Belinda Bencic also booked her spot in the next round with a clinical 6-2, 6-3 win over Austrian Sinja Kraus.

However, former champions suffered early setbacks. 2021 French Open winner Barbora Krejcikova was eliminated by American Hailey Baptiste 6-7(7), 7-6(6), 6-2, while former US Open champion Emma Raducanu bowed out following a 6-0, 7-6(4) defeat to Argentina's Solana Sierra. ■