Third seed Rafael Nadal began his bid for a 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title with a straight-set win against Australia’s Alexei Popyrin.

After easing through the first two sets, Nadal fought off two set points at 5-2 in the third before recovering.

Russian seventh seed Andrey Rublev is out after losing in five sets to German world number 42 Jan-Lennard Struff.

Rublev’s defeat means there is one fewer obstacle for Nadal in his side of the draw as the Spaniard seeks to set an outright record for major men’s singles titles – a record he shares with Roger Federer at present.

The Russian was the highest seed behind Nadal in their quarter, with the pair projected to meet in the last eight.

With the seedings based on the world rankings, Nadal is third behind Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev this year and has been landed with a potentially tricky draw.

For the first time, Nadal has found himself in the same half of the draw as Serbian top seed Djokovic and Switzerland’s Federer, who looked impressive on his return to Grand Slam tennis after a 16-month injury lay-off.

Rublev, 23, has been one of the most in-form players on the ATP Tour over the past couple of seasons, boasting the second highest number of match wins in 2021 going into Roland Garros.

That tally included a pair of victories over 31-year-old Struff in the ATP Cup and the Italian Open, only for the German to avenge those defeats on the biggest stage.

Struff won the first two sets and, after Rublev fought back to level, maintained his composure to seal his first win over a top-10 player at a Grand Slam.

Heart-warming scenes as Monfils returns to winning ways

French 14th seed Gael Monfils fought back to win 1-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 6-4 against Spain’s Albert Ramos-Vinolas, leading to jubilant celebrations between the popular player and the small number of home fans who were allowed in.

The comeback meant 34-year-old Monfils secured only his second victory since the sport resumed last summer following the coronavirus pandemic.

Monfils, one of the tour’s great entertainers, has talked openly about his struggles of playing without fans and the happiness of winning again at Roland Garros was clear to see.

Putting his hand on his heart after clinching victory, Monfils received a standing ovation as he lapped up the acclaim on a buzzing Court Suzanne Lenglen.

Elsewhere, Russian 24th seed Aslan Karatsev started with a win as he looks to back up his startling run to the Australian Open semi-finals on his Grand Slam debut earlier this year.

The 27-year-old earned a 6-3 6-4 6-4 victory over American world number 163 Jenson Brooksby.