Jannik Sinner extended his winning streak to 30 matches with a first-round stroll at the French Open.
The world number one was back playing on Court Philippe Chatrier for the first time since last year's epic and heartbreaking final loss to Carlos Alcaraz, when he led by two sets to love and held three match points.
Not since the days of Rafael Nadal has there been such a prohibitive favourite for the title at Roland Garros, with potential rivals to Sinner hard to conjure up in the absence of the injured Alcaraz.
French wild card Clement Tabur was never likely to offer too much of a challenge, and the top seed needed only two hours and eight minutes to wrap up a 6-1 6-3 6-4 victory under the lights.
Sinner’s winning run is the sixth best of the open era in men’s singles, with the Italian having become the first man ever to win six straight ATP Masters 1000 titles.
If he can lift the Coupe des Mousquetaires for the first time, he will join great rival Alcaraz by completing the career Grand Slam of all the major titles.
Earlier, the tournament lost another top-10 seed as Daniil Medvedev crashed to a five-set defeat against Australian wild card Adam Walton.
The sixth seed has been in good form but Roland Garros has often been a venue of struggle for him, and his 6-2 1-6 6-1 1-6 6-4 loss was the seventh first-round defeat of his career in Paris.
It is also the fourth time in the last six grand slams that former US Open champion Medvedev has failed to make it to the second round.
"I don’t think I lost the ability to perform in grand slams," said the Russian. "So I do think it can come back any moment."
French teenager Moise Kouame became the youngest man to reach the second round at Roland Garros in 35 years with a 7-6 (4) 6-2 6-1 victory over another former US Open champion, Marin Cilic.
The 17-year-old, the first man born in 2008 or later to play in the main draw of a slam, became an instant favourite with his crowd-pleasing style.
The age gap of 20 years and five months between Kouame and 37-year-old Cilic is the second widest of any men’s grand slam match this century.
