Cameron Norrie off to winning start at the French Open

British number one Cameron Norrie maintained his fine recent form by making short work of French wildcard Manuel Guinard at the French Open.

Norrie, fresh from winning his first title on clay in Lyon at the weekend, took a tight first set and then cruised to a 7-5 6-2 6-0 first-round victory.

The 26-year-old, ranked 11 in the world, said: “It was a battle in the first set and I just had to hang in there.

“It’s so nice to get my first win here this year. I have to be really patient on the clay. When I’m playing really well I can love it and then when I’m not I have moments where I don’t like it so much. It feels really good to win.”

Norrie’s victory set up a second-round meeting with Australian qualifier Jason Kubler.

Dan Evans finally won a match at Roland Garros at the fifth time of asking.

The British number two, a first-round loser in each of his four previous main draw appearances, beat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 7-6 (3) 6-4 6-4.

On his 32nd birthday, Evans celebrated his victory with a golf swing and then revealed he had stayed up too late the night before watching the US PGA Championship, although he was forced to turn in before Justin Thomas completed his dramatic win.

“My missus was hassling me to sleep,” he said. “I wanted to watch some more, but I was up early. And so I woke up to – I basically missed one of the best endings ever. So, yeah, I was a bit gone this morning, yeah.

“I’ve got two friends here, they stayed up and watched. I couldn’t believe it when I read it in the morning. So it was a little annoying, but I’ll take the win.”

Harriet Dart narrowly avoided a dreaded double-bagel for the second time at a grand slam, losing 6-0 6-2 to Italy’s Martina Trevisan.

The 25-year-old from London failed to win a game in a first-round defeat by Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open in 2019.

Dart must have feared a repeat at 6-0 3-0 down, but she at least managed to get a couple of games on the board.

Dart can console herself with almost #53,000 in prize money for her hour and 25 minutes’ work.

Heather Watson fared little better, going down in straight sets to Elsa Jacquemot of France.

The 30-year-old from Guernsey was a break up in the second set but still slipped to a 6-3 6-3 defeat.