Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas eyes the ball as he returns it to France's Jeremy Chardy during their men's singles first round tennis match on Day 1 of The Roland Garros 2021 French Open tennis tournament in Paris on May 30, 2021. (MARTIN BUREAU / AFP)

Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas overcame a sluggish start to reach the second round of the French Open with a 7-6(6) 6-3 6-1 victory over France's Jeremy Chardy on Sunday.

The fifth seed, who extended his winning run on clay to five matches after clinching the title in Lyon last week, was in trouble in the opening set in an empty court Philippe Chatrier after spectators were sent home under a 9 pm local time curfew before making his superiority count.

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Tsitsipas, who lost to 13-times Roland Garros champion Rafael Nadal in the final in Barcelona, steamrolled past a helpless Chardy in the other two sets.

He ended Chardy's challenge after just over two hours with a forehand winner for a no-nonsense victory.

He will next face either American Sebastian Korda or Spain's Pedro Martinez.