The French Open 2026 was off to a rollicking start, with plenty of unexpected results taking the fans by surprise. Over the years, the French Open has seen at least one seeded player make a first-round exit, and it was no different this year, as eighth seed Taylor Fritz was stunned by world no. 156 American Nishesh Basavareddy. Fritz was making a comeback from injury, but he still looked too strong for Nishesh. However, the 21-year-old was too hot to handle for Fritz. The effect of the knee injury was visible on Fritz as his movement wasn’t smooth and Nishesh took advantage of it, taking a 2-0 lead in the match after winning two tie-breakers. Fritz pulled things back in the third set, winning 7-6, but Nishesh Basavareddy saved the best for the last and won the fourth set 6-1 to march into the second round.
The second biggest upset of the day came during the match between Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Portuguese player Nuno Borges. Etcheverry entered the game as a massive favourite, with strong results on clay in the build-up to the event. Martin, ranked 25, had a clear advantage over inconsistent Borges, but he failed to win a single set and lost 3–0. It was a shambolic performance where Etcheverry converted just two out of the 10 break points and conceded six breaks, losing 6-3, 6-4, 6-2.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Survives
The day could have seen 23 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina lose to world no. 87 Damir Dzumhur, but he survived the scare, showing tremendous will to fight. Fokina was struggling physically in scorching heat and looked way off colour, resulting in losing the first set 7–6. He was down a break in the second set, but bounced back to win 6-3. Dzumhur exploited Fokina’s physical vulnerabilities in the third set, winning 6–2. Dzumhur was serving for the match in the fourth set, but Fokina broke his serve twice, winning 7–5, and later won the third set 6–3 to pull off an unlikely win.
