Three Australian French Open debutants learned some harsh lessons on the opening day at Roland Garros.

Rinky Hijikata was the only Aussie to win a set in a disappointing day, losing to American Reilly Opelka, 1-6/6-3/7-5/7-6. Hijikata won the opening set in just 18 minutes, giving him plenty of confidence leading into next year.

“I am starting to figure it out. I feel like next year I can come here and feel like I can get some good results. I do think it’s a surface I can play on. I think a lot of part of my game now, I’ve realised can match up well … I’m confident moving forward.”

Tristan Schoolkate went out in straight sets to an experienced Marton Fucsovics. The Hungarian dominated 6-4/6-2/6-2, but the Western Australian took it in his stride, eluding that there’s lots to take away from the big occasion.

“I think it was a great experience, great learning to see the level these guys (achieve). Why they’ve been at that ranking and are such calibre of players for so long,” he said after the match.

In the women’s bracket, wildcard entrant, Destanee Aiava was overpowered by Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska, 7-5/6-1. Aiva conceded that an early break had her mindset out of whack.

“It’s a different kind of game type that I have to get more experience with. She’s obviously a big hitter. It just wasn’t as consistent as I liked it to be,” she said.

“I need to get better with controlling my emotions when things look like or feel like they’re getting too far away from me. Especially going down a break and automatically thinking I’ve lost … It’s kind of a natural response that I have all the time. It’s something that I really do need to work on.”

There’s still plenty of action to come, with Alexei Popyrin and Daria Kasatkina headlining day two’s green and gold flavour on the clay courts of Roland Garros.

Photo by Mathieu Lebreton found HERE and used under a Creative Commons license. This image has not been modified.