Americans Shelton, Tiafoe, Paul advance at Roland Garros

Ben Shelton’s Monday bid for his maiden match win at Roland Garros was twice interrupted by the Paris rain. Yet the American kept his focus to seal a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 triumph against Hugo Gaston at the clay-court major.

Gaston began well in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with the 15th-seeded Shelton. Chants of ‘Hugoooo, Hugoooo’ rang out around Court 14 when the home favourite clinched the opening set, but Shelton’s powerful lefty game quickly dampened French spirits.

"This was a pretty amazing atmosphere, honestly," the American said in his post-match press conference. "This is the first time that I've come out to a tennis match and had a band playing in the stands on my court, so I think that was pretty special.

"I love these moments. I enjoy these atmospheres. I got a lot of heckling when I was in college tennis, but today the crowd was just loud, chanting, supporting their countryman. It's something that you love to see. There was a lot of positive out there."

Hear him 𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐑🦁@BenShelton knocks out Gaston 3-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.@rolandgarros | #RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/xGnmgEkw2E

— ATP Tour (@atptour) May 27, 2024

The players were twice forced off by rain, once in the third set and again in the fourth, but Shelton kept his cool throughout to complete the victory. He broke his opponent twice in each of the second, third and fourth sets, and finished the two-hour, 29-minute encounter having converted six of 14 break points he earned, according to Infosys Stats.

The No. 15 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Shelton lifted his maiden tour-level title on clay in April in Houston. He will now compete for a third-round spot at Roland Garros against three-time quarter-finalist Kei Nishikori, who survived a five-set thriller against Gabriel Diallo on Sunday evening.

Frances Tiafoe joined his countryman in the second round with a dramatic 6-3, 3-6, 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-4 win against Mattia Bellucci. The 25th seed broke in the ninth game of sets four and five and held strong on serve to complete the comeback.

Tiafoe did not face a break point in the final two sets against the 22-year-old Italian qualifier, who was seeking his first tour-level win. He saved one of just three break points against him across the first three sets, according to Infosys ATP Stats. After competing for nearly four hours, Tiafoe booked a second-round meeting with Denis Shapovalov, a 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 winner against Frenchman Luca van Assche.

Tommy Paul cruised into the second round with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-1 victory against Pedro Cachin, breaking serve eight times on 16 chances. The 14th seed will bid to progress to the Roland Garros third round for the first time when he takes on Fabio Fognini. The Italian beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-1, 6-1, 7-5 to open his 12th Paris campaign.

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime also stayed patient across the two rain delays before booking his second-round spot. The Canadian beat Yoshihito Nishioka 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 to set a meeting with qualifier Henri Squire, who saved six match points to beat Max Purcell 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6, 7-6(10). It was Auger-Aliassime’s first victory at Roland Garros since his 2022 fourth-round run, which ended when he memorably fell in five sets to Rafael Nadal.