French Open news: Novak Djokovic seals win after being booed as Evans loses feisty contest

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Djokovic has booked his spot in the next round of the French Open with a 6-4,7-6, 5-4 win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

The Serbian looked to have been in trouble during the opening stages of the encounter but his quality ultimately shone through as he took control of the match and cruised into the second round.

Djokovic showed glimpses of his sensational quality tonight but he still does not look at his very best and will need to improve if he is to land the spoils in this competition, though this victory could prove a very morale-boosting success.

Novak Djokovic has not been at his best against Pierre-Hugues Herbert here, but the world No. 1 is finding a way up against his well-supported opponent.

The Serbian has raised into a two-set lead 6-4, 7-6 and is leading 2-1 in the final set at present. Djokovic will not need reminding that he must improve if he is to land the spoils in this competition, though a comeback here is not entirely out of the question either.

Dan Evans has been knocked out of the French Open in convincing fashion, being beaten 6-4 6-4 6-4 to world No.13 Holger Rune.

The British number three endured a torrid time in the opening round of the competition, being left in a flap by his opponent’s antics in the third set.

After Rune disputed two calls, the 21-year-old then disputed a line call during Evan’s service which he agreed to replay – which was then broken back.

During the changeover, Evans snapped, saying: “He doesn’t need a conversation on my serve. Let the f****** match play. Do our job! You don’t have to have a conversation with him. It’s twice in two games.

“F***ing, you are talking to each other like children. You don’t need an explanation, you call the ball out, that’s it. You know, you have a duty to keep the match flowing and you’re having a conversation with him. A long one. Two long ones. It’s madness.”

Dan Evans is edging towards a first round exit at the hands of Holger Rune here. The Brit is currently training 4-6, 4-6 and has struggled to gain any sort of momentum in this clash.

Elsewhere, Novak Djokovic has taken to centre court to take on Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

Alex de Minaur has spoken about his plans for the evening, with his Brit girlfriend Katie Boulter set to take to the court this evening.

Asked whether he was going to watch her match, De Minaur said: “The plan is to watch her. I think she's got a long day ahead. The match before her just started, and it's a men's match, so it could be a long one.

“Safe to say that we don't take it too hard if either of us don't watch each other play because we obviously know that we're getting ready, we've got to recover, got to do stuff to focus on yourself. But whenever we can, we're obviously there to support each other. Well, today we spent almost the whole day together waiting for the rain to go away, so let's hope it stays that way.”

Aryna Sabalenka has hit the ground running at the French Open, and she may feel that her tried and tested tradition played a role in her dominant display this afternoon.

Her good luck charm has hilariously been signing the head of her bald fitness coach, and the Belarusian was spotted writing on trainer Jason Stacy’s head ahead of her victory over Erika Andreeva.

Aryna Sabalenka has seen off the valiant effort of Erika Andreeva to avoid an opening round upset at Ronald Garros.

The Belarusian cruised to a 6-1, 6-2 success to lay down a marker in the competition.

Casper Ruud has booked his spot in the next round with a victory over Felipe Alves. The Norwegian impressed in his straight sets success, cruising to a 6-3, 6-4, 6-3 win.

Speaking after his win, Ruud said: “It felt great to be back here at Roland Garros. I feel very welcome here. It was a good start level-wise for me, I was quite steady all the way. I played well last week in Geneva and I’m hoping to bring that here.”

Legendary Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was spotted at the French Open today to watch Casper Ruud's match with Felipe Alves.

Ruud is two sets up and closing in on the second round in a dominant performance, with eyes on him from FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development.

Elsewhere, the covers are being removed from outside courts with play set to get underway in the next 15 minutes.

All doubles matches have been cancelled today to open space for singles, in the hope that all ties can be played before the end of tonight's session.

The French Open has confirmed that all outdoors matches have been delayed until 3pm at the earliest.

However, rain is not forecasted for beyond that point and players could finally get proceedings underway, five hours after their initially scheduled start.

Increasingly chaotic weather in Paris has caused the tournament organisers to cancel all of today's doubles matches.

Play has only commenced today under roofs, with all outdoor court matches delayed, following heavy rain in the French capital.

Andy Murray is set to play alongside Dan Evans tomorrow, which could yet be rescheduled in a scramble to get today's games played.

Boris Becker believes that Rafael Nadal will one day return to the French Open and that his Monday defeat to Alexander Zverev won't be his last match at Roland Garros.

Nadal was non-committal about his future when he spoke after the first-round exit, but refused to rule out coming back to Paris next year.

“I believe that Rafa will still play the Olympics at Roland Garros, but I don’t think he’ll play the French Open again in 2025,” Becker said.

“Of course, he has emotions and probably had a sleepless night because he didn’t know whether it would be the last time. He wanted to say goodbye well.

"Then his opponent was Zverev, against whom he can lose even on a good day. That’s why it was emotionally very difficult for Nadal.”

Home star Alize Cornet has played the final match of her glittering career, going down 6-2, 6-1 to Qinwen Zheng in a battling first-round contest.

Cornet previously confirmed that she would be calling a day on her tennis career at the French Open.

She was presented with a trophy on Court Philippe-Chatrier and a special tribute video looking back at her greatest moments on court, before she took the microphone and reflected on her time in tennis.

“I gave everything to tennis and I was very happy with the life I had," Cornet said.

Rafael Nadal has confirmed that he will be returning to sport sooner rather than later, linking up with a host of big names for a charity golf tournament in Mallorca.

The likes of Nadal, Pep Guardiola, Henrik Larsson, Gabriel Batistuta and John Arne Riise will take to the links on June 12-14 to raise money for the fight against ALS and multiple sclerosis.

Wimbledon 2022 champion Elena Rybakina has sealed her place in the French Open second round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Greet Minnen.

After a slow start, Rybakina won 10 straight matches and overcame a late fightback from her Belgian opponent.

Outside, the rain continues to fall and there is no hint that play will resume anytime soon.

Coco Gauff coach Brad Gilbert, who formerly worked with Andre Agassi, has shared John McEnroe's complaint about Rafael Nadal at the French Open.

McEnroe felt that it was a "crazy" decision not to seed Nadal at Roland Garros, having drawn and then lost to world No. 4 Alexander Zverev.

And Gilbert is on the same page, with Nadal denied an easier route to a lengthy Paris stay.

He wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): "Didn’t see a lot of Vamos-Rafa match definitely had chances in 2nd set, still feel like he deserved to be seeded like 20th and could work way into (the) tournament. Who knows about what the result could have been, just my 2 cents."

Outside play is expected to be delayed with heavy rain falling at Roland Garros once again.

Matches went late into the night yesterday as a result of rain and thunderstorms in Paris, with the roof closed for Rafael Nadal's match with Alexander Zverev.

And we could be headed towards more disruptions today.

Play has officially been delayed until 10.30am, but could be set back further if rain continues.

Nick Kyrgios has posted a cryptic social media message concerning the French Open this morning.

The Aussie is not in action as he continues rehabilitating from injury, but has been a keen observer over the past two days in Paris.

Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) he wrote: "The tennis world makes me laugh….. if you know you know."

He then curiously added: "Players have severe injuries and everyone just assumes they are gonna be the same."

Emma Raducanu has received a surprise coaching offer from her tour rival Ons Jabeur at the French Open.

The Brit is absent from Paris in order to focus on Wimbledon, where Jabeur has reached the final in the last two editions of the tournament.

And Jabeur insisted that she would be more than happy to work with Raducanu.

“I would say Emma Raducanu,” Jabeur told Eurosport when asked who the one player she would like to coach is.

“I have a good relationship with her and I think I can help a little bit with some advice. I mean I would not be the main coach, I would be the consultant I guess, a new job. Emma if you’re hiring, I’m available.”

Novak Djokovic begins his French Open campaign tonight...

Court Philippe-Chatrier

From 11am

Qinwen Zheng vs Alize Cornet

Felipe Meligeni Alves vs Casper Ruud

Erika Andreeva vs Aryna Sabalenka

Not before 7:15pm

Novak Djokovic vs Pierre-Hugues Herbert

Court Suzanne-Lenglen

From 11am

Greet Minnen vs Elena Rybakina

Tomas Martin Etcheverry vs Arthur Cazaux

Magdalena Frech vs Daria Kasatkina

Dan Evans vs Holger Rune

Court Simonne-Mathieu

From 10am

Alex De Minaur vs Alex Michelsen

Taylor Fritz vs Federico Coria

Madison Keys vs Renata Zarazua

Terence Atmane has released an apology statement on social media after he was nearly disqualified during his first-round match.

Atmane furiously flung a ball into the crowd which hit a spectator, though only received a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Many had called for him to be disqualified, but he played on to be defeated by Sebastian Ofner.

"Just to come back to what happened last night regarding the mini drama I'm facing," he began on his Instagram story.

"After losing the 3rd set and leading 4/1 in the 4th, Sebastian saves a break point and just as he sends the ball back to me I have a moment of frustration and decide to send the ball into the net out of frustration... Problem: I broke my string at the same moment and found myself watching my ball cross the court and go straight into the leg of a spectator...

"Of course, my first instinct would have been to go and apologize, but I was so shocked and disoriented by my action that no reaction came to mind... like a blackout where my brain switches off and I can't think of anything else - anything.

"I'm working very hard on myself mentally and people who know me know that I've made enormous progress in terms of frustration and stress management, even if I'm far from perfect. Stress that 6 months ago was causing me to lose between 4 and 6kg per tournament.

"This gesture, which I'm sure you've seen on the media, was not intentional, so please forgive me for my emotional outburst and, above all, I'd like to apologize personally to the lady

"I'm currently looking for with my agent and the tournament organizers, so that I can tell her straight to her face and offer her one of my signed rackets (if she accepts the offer, of course).

"I will assume the financial consequences of my actions with the tournament. I'm writing this with tears in my eyes because I'm an extremely sensitive person and finding myself in this kind of situation affects me deeply. I sincerely hope my message will be heard."

Rafael Nadal failed to rule out returning to next year's French Open, but did admit that he would be skipping Wimbledon in order to focus on the Olympics this summer.

Nadal was defeated by Alexander Zverev in the first round yesterday, but he admitted that it might not be his last match at Roland Garros.

"I don't know if it's gonna be my last time here in front of you, not 100 per cent - but if it is I enjoyed it," he said.

"The feelings that I have are difficult to describe, it's so special to feel the love of the people in the place I love the most.

"The first round was not the dream one but I was competitive and had my chances. It's difficult to say what's going on in the future, a big percentage that I won't be back but I can say 100 per cent I am enjoying playing and having fun.

"Maybe in two months I'll say it's enough, but it's something I don't want yet and I want to be back on this court for the Olympics."

Hello and welcome to Express Sport's live coverage of the French Open, where we will be bringing you all the latest news, scores and action from Roland Garros.