PARIS, May 24, 2016

Four of the five male Grand Slam main draw debutants, who battled through the qualifying, were in action at Roland Garros on Monday finishing with mixed feelings. Adam Pavlasek made it into the main draw as lucky loser but now advanced to the second round with a 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 victory over Roberto Carballés-Baena, who also appeared at a major for the first time.

“It was very tough for me. We both played great tennis. I only played two matches over five sets before but that was in doubles at the Davis Cup, so that was my premiere in singles,” Pavlasek told afterwards.

“It was a great experience, although the conditions were not easy with a bit of rain but I am really happy that I am still here. I am actually supposed to be at home,” the 21-year-old Czech added with a smile.

Pavlasek claimed six ITF Future titles and won one ATP Challenger title in Poprad Tatry last year. His best ranking was 108 earlier this season. So the goal is clear.

“Getting into the top 100 next and then we will see.” He will next face Jeremy Chardy.

Carballés-Baena was obviously disappointed with the outcome.

“It was a difficult day, as we had to wait some time before we could go on the court. It was a very long match in difficult conditions. The courts were very slow and we also had a bit of rain. The rallies were very long and I couldn’t really find a rhythm today,” the world number 115 from Spain explained.

“Talking about confidence today is difficult but in general I want to climb up a bit more the rankings next in order to enter the ATP Tour-level events directly,” he told but will continue his journey on the ATP Challenger Tour in Fürth.

Laslo Djere, who qualified with a win over Pavlasek in the final round of the qualifying, lost to Jordan Thompson 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 and Jordi Samper-Montana fell to Mathias Bourgue 7-5, 7-6, 7-6 in three hours and 26 minutes. The 22-year-old Frenchman was granted a wild card to make his French Open debut.

“I knew this was going to be a rough one. He got out of the qualifications. He won three matches right before playing this one. I trained with him. I knew this was going to be a long match. He’s a solid player. I’m happy that I managed this in three sets,” Bourgue told afterwards.

“Physically it was becoming quite complicated. During the second set I don’t know exactly what happened, I was getting cramps, maybe because I was getting nervous. I was finally able to win the second set. That really helped me. Then I think I was able to sort of let go, relax, and wrap up the match in three sets.”

Prize money at the French Open has been increased by 15%, so that Bourgue has already earned about €60,000 with this win. This means a substantial amount of money for the Frenchman.

“First of all, I should say this has never happened to me before. Typically, where I play, you don’t get that kind of money. Even the winner. So this is quite special indeed. What will I do differently? Well, I think I can work with my physiotherapist more frequently, and put more work in what I do and really stay very focused. I will invest the money as wisely as possible to serve my project at the end of the day.”

On Tuesday Gerald Melzer will take on Aljaz Bedene for his first Grand Slam main draw experience.