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Spain's Rafael Nadal was made to work hard by Hungary's Marton Fucsovics before clinching a three-set first-round singles victory that sets up a clash with old foe Novak Djokovic.
The 14-time French Open champion was back on familiar ground on the red clay of Roland Garros as he sealed a 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 win over Fucsovics on Sunday.
Before the match, Nadal, 38, had cast doubt over whether he would be able to take part in the match because of a thigh injury.
The Spaniard was superb in the first set against Fucsovics, easing fears about the injury, but could not maintain his level in the second set.
With his thigh heavily strapped, he managed to battle through the final set to tough out the victory.
The 2008 Olympic champion will now meet Serbia's Djokovic, who beat Australian Matt Edben 6-0, 6-1 in just 53 minutes on Saturday, to renew their fierce rivalry in the next round. It will be their 60th meeting.
Djokovic, winner of a record 24 Grand Slam titles and who missed out a 25th after losing in the Wimbledon final last month, won bronze at the Beijing Games at which Nadal – who has won 22 majors – clinched his gold.
“Situations are completely different for him, for me. He's being very competitive. I was not being very competitive for the last two years, so in that case, I think probably he is the clear favourite,” said Nadal, who holds an 8-2 head-to-head advantage over the Serb at Roland Garros.
“I'm going to try my best to bring the best to the court and then let's see how far I can go and how many problems I can create for him.”
Djokovic described the possibility of the matchup as “one last dance” after the draw and speaking on Saturday he said: “Playing him is like finals for me. In any tournament and particularly here, knowing what he has achieved and what he’s done for our sport, particularly here in Roland Garros, his record speaks for itself.
“So I look forward to it. If we get to face each other, it’s going to be, possibly, the last time we face each other on a big stage, so I’m sure that people would enjoy it.”
Nadal is also competing in the doubles with fellow Spaniard and world No 3 Carlos Alcaraz, who beat Djokovic in the Wimbledon final last month. The pair opened their campaign on Saturday with a victory over Argentinian sixth seeds Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzales.
Meanwhile, Simone Biles made a stunning return to Olympic competition in the gymnastics on Sunday, powering through left calf pain to get her multiple-medal bid off to a rousing start.
The US superstar, aiming to add to the four gold medals she won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, tweaked her left calf warming up for her second apparatus, the floor exercise.
It didn't stop her from soaring through her signature Yurchenko double pike vault – now known as the Biles II – which even with a big step back on landing earned a 9.4 for execution for a massive total of 15.800 points.
She had another step back landing her second vault, but laughed as she crawled back towards her teammates on her hands and knees.
That was all it took for Biles's coach Cecile Landi to know that for Biles “It's on. It's OK.”
Landi, who said Biles aggravated a minor injury she'd first dealt with a couple of weeks ago, said there was never any doubt Biles would continue.
“Never in her mind,” Landi said, adding that she was also confident that Biles would be ready to go for the team final on Tuesday and the individual events to follow.
“It's incredible,” US team technical lead Chellsie Memmel said. “What she was able to do looking like she has soreness or something in her leg is remarkable.”
