With Rafa Nadal mania having finally subsided, it was time for the great man's two potential clay-court heirs to start staking their claims to be his successor -- with both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz obliging.
First up on Court Suzanne-Lenglen on Monday, Alcaraz, the No.2 seed, kicked off his defence with a perfectly straightforward dismissal of Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri, 6-3 6-4 6-2 in just under a couple of hours.
Then hours later in the night match on Philippe Chatrier, with the tear-flooded court by now thankfully dried after the previous day's Rafa weep-fest, it was Sinner's turn to flex his muscles - admittedly not quite as impressive as the Spaniard's - as he silenced the home fans with a 6-4 6-3 7-5 win over Arthur Rinderknech.
