Grigor Dimitrov found himself facing an unexpected opponent but still got his French Open bid off to a solid start with a straight-sets win.

The fourth seed opened proceedings on Court Philippe Chatrier as he began his latest attempt to win a maiden grand slam.

After Serbian Viktor Troicki’s late withdrawal through injury, lucky loser Mohamed Safwat was only informed he was Dimitrov’s new opponent an hour before the match was due to begin on Sunday.

The world No.182 from Egypt looked out of his depth in the first set but eventually found his feet, although he couldn’t stop Bulgarian Dimitrov running out a 6-1 6-4 7-6 (7/1) winner.

“I finished warming up at 9.30. Then at 10 they told me, ‘Do you know the news?” Safwat said.

“I never saw the inside of that court before. It’s different to the courts outside.”

Another lucky loser from qualifying will now face Australia’s Bernard Tomic on Monday after an ongoing elbow injury proved too much for compatriot Nick Kyrgios to overcome.

It’s a persistent problem for the 23-year-old, who’s played just two events since February.

Second seed Alexander Zverev wasted little time joining Dimitrov in round two.

The highly fancied German, 21, breezed past Ricardas Berankis of Lithuania 6-1 6-1 6-2 in just over an hour.

Former semi-finalist Gael Monfils shrugged off a typically sluggish first set to triumph against fellow Frenchman Elliot Benchetrit 3-6 6-1 6-2 6-1.

Another home hope, 15th seed Lucas Pouille, beat Russia’s Daniil Medvedev 6-2 6-3 6-4.

Japan’s Kei Nishori, seeded 19th, was also a straight-sets winner over Maxime Janvier of France.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Damir Dzumhur swept aside American Denis Kudla 6-4 6-2 6-2 but Jared Donaldson is through after surviving five sets with Chile’s Nicolas Jarry, winning 6-3 4-6 3-6 6-3 6-4.