The Madrid champion hopes to play on the terre battue for a few more Sundays.

PARIS—They don’t ask how, they ask how many. How many victories did Andrey Rublev, the highest-ranked player playing a first-on match on the first day of Roland Garros 2024, earn on Sunday?

The only satisfactory answer: One.

Yes, it took the sixth seed four sets, a duration that didn’t seem likely after he cruised past Taro Daniel in a 28-minute opener. But when the Russian’s 80^th-ranked adversary took the second set in a tiebreaker—and then broke serve to open the third—this seemingly streamlined first-rounder took an unexpected turn.

Compounding Rublev’s nuisance were the conditions. The sun and clouds took their turns enveloping Court Simonne-Mathieu, with some wind thrown in for good measure.

“Not easy to play in,” Rublev said of the inconstant day. “It’s tough.”

For Rublev’s sake, his infamous irritation never got the best of him. He regrouped, won six of the last eight games in the third set to regain the lead, and then pressured Daniel throughout the beginning of the fourth.

But Rublev had difficulty pulling away. He didn’t convert from 15-30 while returning at 3-2, and Daniel saved a break point with Rublev up 4-3. The crowd, a sizable one already, was growing in volume and intensity, yearning for a decider.

“I was really surprised, because I’ve played on this court many times,” said Rublev. “Normally, it was never full, but today it was quite a lot of people.”

First-on matches generally get strong crowds from the start—as do title contenders, which Rublev may be at this Roland Garros. Two of our experts picked Rublev to reach the final, and one of them even went a step further. The Madrid champion showed focus, firepower and even some finesse today, qualities that should serve him well during this fortnight.

But first, he had to battle—another prerequisite for Slam success.

Like a bug unable to be swatted away, Daniel held serve and nerve to 5-5. At 15-all, Rublev double faulted, then couldn’t handle a scorching service return.

It was an “equal” set, Rublev would later say on Tennis Channel, but at this moment he was trailing it, and was a few shots away from being made to play a fifth.