Nicolas Mahut clinched his 300th doubles match win on Wednesday at Roland Garros, saving two match points alongside Pierre-Hugues Herbert to defeat Robert Lindstedt and Marcin Matkowski 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(6).
The home favourites secured victory after two hours and five minutes, winning four consecutive points from 4/6 down in the final-set tie-break to secure the win. Mahut and Herbert dropped only eight points behind their first serves and fired seven aces to reach the second round at their home Grand Slam.
Mahut, who turned professional in 2000, owns 23 doubles wins from 40 matches on the Parisian clay and is aiming to win his first Roland Garros title on his 18th attempt. The 36-year-old's best result came in 2013 when he reached the final with Michael Llodra. The French duo fell to Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in a final-set tie-break.
Mahut and Herbert will face Dutchmen Robin Haase and Matwe Middelkoop in the second round.
Top seeds Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo safely navigated their opening round clash, defeating Marco Cecchinato and Marton Fucsovics 6-4, 7-5. Kubot and Melo saved all three break points they faced to progress.
Second seeds Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic also clinched a straight-sets win to open their campaign in Paris. The Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open champions dropped just four games to book their place in the second round, breaking serve on five of their eight break points. The Australian Open champions lead the way in the ATP Doubles Race To London, having won four titles already this year.
Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell champions Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez needed just 79 minutes to confirm their place in the second round. The No. 12 seeds beat Guillermo Duran and Andres Molteni 6-3, 6-4, saving all five break points they faced.
Lopez/Lopez will meet Marcelo Demoliner and Santiago Gonzalez in the second round. Demoliner and Gonzalez squeezed past Roman Jebavy and Andrei Vasilevski 7-6(5), 6-7(8), 7-6(2).
Evgeny Donskoy and Miguel Angel Reyes-Varela scored a surprise win, defeating seventh seeds Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi and Jean-Julien Rojer 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-4. The Russian-Mexican tandem converted three of nine break points and won 77 per cent of first-serve points to progress after two hours and 36 minutes.
Ninth seeds Ivan Dodig and Rajeev Ram came from a set down to beat Hans Podlipnik-Castillo and Jackson Withrow 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. Dodig and Ram created 15 break point opportunities, converting four, en route to the first-round win.
Internazionali BNL d'Italia semi-finalists Pablo Cuevas and Marcel Granollers continued their strong form, defeating Jeremy Chardy and Daniel Nestor 7-5, 6-2 in 71 minutes. The No. 11 seeds won 64 per cent of second-serve return points.
Marcelo Arevalo and Jamie Cerretani upset Australian Open semi-finalists Ben McLachlan and Jan-Lennard Struff 6-7(4), 7-6(3), 6-3. Arevalo and Cerretani won 68 per cent of points behind their second serves, securing the win after two hours and 33 minutes.