Jannik Sinner got his French Open campaign up and running with a straight-sets victory over home favourite Arthur Rinderknech, recovering from two breaks down in the third set.

Sinner emerged a 6-4 6-3 7-5 victor after two hours and 17 minutes at Roland-Garros, kickstarting his bid for a first title on the French clay.

The world number one showed no signs of a hangover from his Italian Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz as he cruised through the first two sets.

The first was in the books in 42 minutes and the second was even quicker at 36 minutes, with Sinner efficiently converting two of the three break points he generated across the two.

The third set was a different story, however, as Rinderknech refused to give up on his aggressive approach and preyed on a poor spell from Sinner to build a 4-0 lead.

However, that run only served to push Sinner to up his level, and the three-time grand slam champion won seven of the final eight games in the match to deny the home fans a fourth set. 

Sinner will be up against a vocal Roland-Garros crowd again in round two, as he faces Richard Gasquet on Wednesday.

15 - Jannik Sinner is the fifth player in the past 20 years to win 15+ consecutive Men’s Singles matches at Grand Slam events after Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. Streak.#RolandGarros | @rolandgarros @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/FqwglkE4SX

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) May 26, 2025

The first major shock in the men's draw was generated by Daniel Altmaier, who upset fourth seed Taylor Fritz with a 7-5 3-6 6-3 6-1 victory.

The world number 66 played mistake-free tennis, while Fritz committed 41 unforced errors while hitting 34 winners as he failed to progress beyond the first round for the first time since 2018.

Elsewhere, Holger Rune made the second round by beating Roberto Bautista-Agut in four sets, while Casper Ruud beat another Spaniard, Albert Ramos-Vinolas, in three.

Data Debrief: Tennis' big five?

Sinner's victory was his 15th in a row at grand slams, having won the US Open title to round off 2024 before retaining the Australian Open crown earlier this year.

He is just the fifth man in the last 20 years to achieve that feat.

The 'Big Three' of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic previously did so, while Sinner's great rival Alcaraz has also achieved the feat.