After two and a half days of play, the men’s first round drew to a close, but the focus was on one court and two players. At the end of the day, the mouth-watering prospect of a quarterfinal still looms large.

Defending champion Rafael Nadal took to the court against French wildcard Quentin Halys. Except for a pesky break by the Frenchman to get back on even terms after Nadal secured a break in the opening game, he had no real answer for Nadal’s familiar lasso forehand. Its topspin stranded Halys in a desert of clay as Nadal emerged triumphant, 6-3 6-3 6-4.

Nadal plays a brutal game, and he admitted that it was a good start, although he felt he could have been a little better.

He said: “After the first three games that I started a little bit slow, then I start moving the ball better. I am happy the way that I played. [It] is the first match and I played enough well, and I think my forehand worked well for a lot of moments.”

Nadal will face compatriot Nicolas Almagro in the second round.

Moving swiftly on, Novak Djokovic took to the court after Nadal to commence his campaign. With his position as world No. 1 and his clay court pedigree coming into the match, he was the heavy favorite as he took on tour veteran Jarkko Nieminen. There was nothing vintage about the Finn as he skipped about the court, even building up a 4-1 lead against Djokovic in the second set. It was an interesting wobble, if we could call it that, and pretty soon normal service was resumed as Djokovic closed out a comfortable 6-2 7-5 6-2 win.

“I was aware of the quality and experience of my opponent today, who has shown, and especially in the second set, why he's been around the tour and a successful, consistent player for so many years,” Djokovic acknowledged. “He can play. He can swing through the ball and be very aggressive.”

“He was the better player for most of the second set. And then I managed to come back and play some good shots, stayed patient, stayed calm. And overall it was a very solid performance.”

Djokovic will face the winner of the match between Gilles Muller and Paolo Lorenzi, with that match suspended for bad light at the start of the fifth set.

Of course, it will not have escaped their notice that this stacked quarter of the draw just got a little easier, as Jack Sock dealt 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov a second successive first-round defeat in the French capital. The pack chasing the Big Four has been shifting and changing its leaders. Some have remained solid and consistent (Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych), but others have struggled to keep up with the pace (Milos Raonic, Marin Cilic, and now Dimitrov).

Since his run to the Wimbledon semifinal, clobbering defending champion Andy Murray along the way, there have been high hopes for Dimitrov to establish himself. While his fitness and stamina have improved under the tutelage of Roger Rasheed, his off-days still cost him dear, as a fired-up Jack Sock joined John Isner in the second round.

Sock had pushed Dimitrov close when they played in Stockholm last year, and it was enough to give the American the confidence he needed to send Dimitrov packing in straight sets, 7-6(7) 6-2 6-3.

Sock said, “I feel like if I play some of my best tennis I have a chance against anybody. To play on clay I think suits me a little more. If I played well, I knew I had a chance. I was able to do it.” His second-round opponent will be Pablo Carreno Busta.

Round two begins on Wednesday at 11am CET, with Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori leading the action on the two main courts.