Thanasi Kokkinakis in staggering scenes as tennis world stunned by chaos at French Open

Thanasi Kokkinakis has described his latest marathon grand slam escape at the French Open as the "best mental effort" of his career. The injury-ravaged Aussie snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in another trademark five-set battle, on a day of chaos in the French capital that saw players and tennis officials struggle through a fresh heatwave at Roland Garros.

In typical Kokkinakis fashion, he found himself two sets to one down, then 5-3 and 30-0 behind against French lefty, Terence Atmane, who was serving for the match. But as he has done so many times now, Kokkinakis found a way to grind his way back and call on every ounce of his resolve to pull off an epic 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 4-6 6-3 7-5 victory.

"To come back after such little tennis on a grand stage and in these conditions against a good player from France, it's probably my best mental effort," Kokkinakis said after the match. "Even a few days ago there was talks that I wasn't sure if I'd play. I had some people flying in, and I told them to stay home, because I didn't want to play a few games and something go bad."

This was the 16th time Konnikakis has gone to a fifth set at a major, for a ninth win. And after ongoing struggles from a career-saving shoulder operation 18 months ago, the 30-year-old Aussie admitted the next 12 months could make or break his career, having been forced to retire at the Australian Open at his last major in January.

"I'm looking at tomorrow morning and seeing how I'll wake up," Kokkinakis said ahead of his second round match against Pablo Carreno Busta. The veteran Spaniard stunned 12th seed Czech Jiri Lehecka in straight-sets in their first round clash.

Alex de Minaur through as heatwave wreaks havoc

On another day of oppressive heat where temperatures soared above 30C, Aussies Alex de Minaur and Daria Kasatkina braved the brutal conditions to prevail in their first round matches. De Minaur wasn't at his best but still had too much class against qualifier Toby Samuel, beating the 23-year-old Brit 6-4 6-4 6-2 after reaching last week's Hamburg Open semi-finals.

Kasatkina was also pleased to come through her first round match against Turkey's Zeynep Sonmez 6-4 6-4 just one month after dropping to her lowest ranking in 11 years. "Honestly, a couple of weeks ago I would probably lose this match," the Russian-born Aussie said about a sea-sawing battle that featured 10 breaks of serve.

An exhausted ballgirl had to be helped from the court during Andrey Rublev's first round victory over Ignacio Buse. Both players called for trainers at various stages and Buse took a medical timeout to receive treatment as the effects of the heatwave took hold.

On a mixed day for the Aussie contingent in the sizzling French capital, 17-year-old Emerson Jones was buzzing despite being handed a 6-1 6-2 drubbing by World No.3 Iga Swiatek. Australia's top-ranked woman Maya Joint was ruthlessly dispatched by 28th seed Anastasia Potapova 6-1 6-2 in just 71 minutes.

Talia Gibson went down to Kazakh Yulia Putintseva 4-6 6-4 6-1. American Tommy Paul came back to beat Rinky Hijikata 4-6 6-3 7-5 6-4 after ousting de Minaur in the Hamburg semis last week. While fellow Sydneysider Aleksandar Vukic lost 6-3 6-3 7-6 (7-4) to Belgian Raphael Collignon.

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