Djokovic, chasing a fourth title at Roland Garros and record 25th Grand Slam triumph, came through against 142nd-ranked French opponent Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 6-4.

The current Australian Open champion arrived at Roland Garros as a top contender.

They are six young Italians dressed as carrots who are at the French Open in a colourful attempt to inspire Sinner to victory.

He last played the tournament in 2022.

Nada suffered only his fourth loss in 116 matches at Roland Garros since his 2005 title-winning debut.

"Of course, on paper it is not the best draw," Nadal said ahead of the match on Court Philippe Chatrier

Rafael Nadal admits he will be facing "one of the toughest opponents possible" when he plays Alexander Zverev in the French Open first round on Monday.

"It feels really nice to be back and I'm just really grateful to be here in front of everybody," said Osaka.

Naomi Osaka and Carlos Alcaraz bring the curtain up on the French Open on Sunday as Roland Garros prepares to bid a likely farewell to Rafael Nadal.

Nadal, who has won the French Open 14 times and will celebrate his 38th birthday on June 3, faces world number four Alexander Zverev in the first round in Paris on Monday.

World number one Novak Djokovic admitted he was "worried" about his French Open title defence after falling to 44th-ranked Czech Tomas Machac in the Geneva semi-finals on Friday.

Djokovic took a wild card to play in Geneva in a bid to rescue an alarming dip in form ahead of Roland-Garros next week.

Nadal, the record 14-time champion at Roland Garros, is unseeded this year after injury saw his ranking plummet to 276.

Novak Djokovic celebrated his 37th birthday on Wednesday with the 1,100th win of his career as he gears up for his French Open title defence, progressing to the Geneva quarterfinals.

He said if Nadal was in the French Open draw, he could not be ruled out, despite his injury problems and growing competition from a younger generation.

His match with Hanfmann will resume Tuesday and the winner will face Djokovic on Wednesday.

World number five Zverev, also Foro Italico champion in 2017, comfortably won his sixth Masters 1000 title by beating Nicolas Jarry 6-4, 7-5 and is eyeing glory at the Paris clay-court Grand Slam, which gets underway next weekend.

In front of a packed centre court crowd Swiatek won her 36th match of the year and became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2013 to win at Madrid and Rome in the same season.

Iga Swiatek swept past Coco Gauff to reach the Rome Open final on Thursday where Aryna Sabalenka will stand in her way of a third title and her bid to match a Serena Williams record.

Djokovic said that his subdued performance on a court where he has won six titles might have been due to the blow suffered while greeting fans on Friday night.