"It felt like when a snake kills its prey," commented Sweden's Mikael Ymer on his lopsided straight-sets defeat by world number one Novak Djokovic on Tuesday.

The Serbian's bid to become the first man in half a century to win all four Grand Slam titles twice got off to a convincing start by easing to a 6-0, 6-2, 6-3 victory, reaching the second round in Paris for a record-equaling 16th time.

It was also his 32nd win in 33 matches in 2020, his only loss coming when he was defaulted from the U.S. Open.

"He hits it pretty big. I had chances to rally but then I got suffocated. It was corner to corner and he rarely misses." It was the blunt verdict of 23-year-old Ymer who never recovered from dropping the first set in just 20 minutes under the roof of Court Philippe Chatrier.

"At the beginning, it was just surreal. The court felt big and I was nervous because I was facing the best on the other side."

Meanwhile, Djokovic insisted his New York disqualification, handed out when he swiped a ball which felled a line judge, was definitely a thing of the past.

"Of course, I will make sure I don't make the same mistake twice," said the Serb who remains only one of two men to have defeated 12-time champion Rafael Nadal in 15 years in Paris.

In the immediate aftermath of his U.S. Open retreat, he went to Rome where he captured a record 36th Masters title. "I have not had any traces of New York in my mind. I'm over it," he said.

However, there was evidence of the old Djokovic feistiness on show Tuesday.

During the third set, he appeared to be heckled by a spectator wearing a Roger Federer hat. But the world number one, who shot a prolonged angry glare at his tormentor, shrugged off the incident which was hard to ignore at a tournament where only 1,000 fans are allowed on site each day due to coronavirus restrictions.

"No, that's my childhood friend. I sent him a kiss after I won the game. It was very nice to see him," he said. 

Players at the French Open on September 29, 2020

Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas earned memorable victory on Tuesday. Last year, he suffered a heartbreaking five-hour, nine-minute loss to Stan Wawrinka on Court Suzanne-Lenglen.

On his return to the same court, the Greek created a better memory, claiming his first comeback from two sets down to advance to the second round.

"Playing a best-of-five [match] can be very challenging and I am really happy that I will walk away from [Court] Suzanne-Lenglen today with a win," said Tsitsipas on court.

Social distancing at French Open

In women's singles, second seed Karolina Pliskova ended Mayar Sherif's fairytale Grand Slam breakthrough to set up a Roland Garros second round clash against former champion Jelena Ostapenko on Tuesday.

Pliskova, a semi-finalist in 2017, squandered eight set points in the opening set as world number 172 Sherif, the first Egyptian woman to play in the main draw at a Slam, took a shock lead.

However, the Czech's greater experience eventually told as she recovered to progress 6-7 (9/11), 6-2, 6-4.

Latvia's Ostapenko, the world 43, won her first match at the French Open since sweeping to her shock 2017 title when she fired 46 winners past Madison Brengle of the United States to win 6-2, 6-1.

(With input from agencies)